Ten Minus Five
by reddwarfaddict
Summary: A new type of foe is invading the Earth; a potential threat to humankind - but can the Doctor save the Earth when he's only five-years-old? Some DoctorWhump.
1. A Strange Day

**A/N: **Disclaimer: I disclaim everything except the child Doctor. Coz I don't think the BBC have any rights on him :D

One of those Doctor-becomes-a-kid fics which there are so many of nowadays, I just wanted to do my take on it :D

**Canon **is my deluded fantasy of Ten, Jack and Rose in the TARDIS, mid-series 2, post-Age Of Steel.

* * *

Chapter 1 – A Strange Day

"The Geron, it put the Kuku down… down on the table, and then the Doctor, he… he looked at it and then… And then…!" Rose gasped through her laughter, trying in vain to tell a story of one of her adventures to her mother but simply laughing too much to be able to speak. Jack was laughing with her, looking as though he were almost about to cry as he doubled over, clutching his stomach.

Rose tried in vain to compose herself, finally managing to stop herself laughing – but then she took one look at the Doctor sitting on the sofa next to her and burst out laughing again, tears streaming down her face.

Jackie somehow knew she wouldn't be able to get the punchline from Rose within ten minutes so she turned to the Doctor. "What did you say?"

"I didn't order this," the Doctor muttered. The result from Jack and Rose was an explosion of laughter that almost blew out the windows.

"I can't breathe!" Jack gasped, still doubled over and laughing.

As Rose and Jack continued to laugh their ways into an early death, Jackie continued to stare at the Doctor. Normally he would be bouncing around like a five-year-old child who'd had too many e-numbers, but right now he was hunched over on the sofa, closed off to the world, hands clutched to his head in a posture quite unlike she'd ever seen him before.

"Are you okay, Doctor?" she asked quietly under Rose and Jack's uncontrollable laughter.

He just nodded. Jackie instantly knew that something was wrong.

"Cup of tea?" she offered. He nodded again, not even looking up. She got up and left the two laughing lunatics behind to go to the kitchen.

When she returned they had managed to calm down enough to speak again. She set the four teas down on the coffee table with a packet of biscuits, which Rose quickly took possession over. Jackie looked back at the Doctor. He still hadn't moved.

"Doctor?" she asked. Finally Jack and Rose seemed to notice that something was wrong and looked over to their friend, just in time to see him suddenly collapse down off of the sofa onto all fours, coughing, choking and gasping for air, but he wasn't laughing. Rose got to her feet, alarmed as he suddenly started to retch, and then finally he lurched and threw up over the carpet.

"Doctor!" Rose panicked, moving over to him and wrapping her arms around his chest in an attempt to support him. He continued to retch, throwing up all over the carpet again before he finally gasped and flopped down onto his back, narrowly avoid his own puddle of sick.

"He's thrown up over my carpet!" Jackie realised as the Doctor continued to gasp of air, his eyes tightly closed to the world above him.

"Mum!" Rose protested, trying to hold the Doctor in comfort as best she could. "Help him!"

Then the Doctor fell completely limp and silent on the floor, looking as though he'd passed out. But the nightmare was only just beginning as seconds later he began to fit violently on the floor…

"Jack!" Rose shrieked, unsure of what to do. Jack quickly grabbed her and pulled her off of him, holding her back.

"Let him do it," he said simply, but his calm demeanour was only a front for the panic he was feeling inside. What the hell was going on?

It felt like hours before the Doctor finally stopped, and opened his eyes dizzily. Jack let go of Rose as she quickly dropped down next to him, stroking back his hair and rubbing his shoulder in a futile attempt to reassure him.

"Doctor," Jack said quickly, dropping down next to him. "Can you hear me?"

The Doctor stared at him as though he'd forgotten who Jack was. After a moment he blinked and opened his mouth, but only a weak, half-audible voice came out:

"Coming," he whispered.

"Coming?" Jack asked. "What does that mean? Doctor?" But he'd already passed out.

Jackie was already taking action. "Can you take 'im to that TARD-whatsit?"

Rose shook her head. "She's in lockdown, self repairing…"

"Take 'im to the spare room, then," Jackie said, pointing in the general direction. "The pyjamas are in the airin' cupboard."

Jack nodded, putting his arms beneath the Doctor and lifting his limp body into the air. "Spare room over here?" he asked, inclining with his head. Rose nodded, quickly moving in front of him to show him the way as Jackie went to retrieve some carpet cleaner.

Jack and Rose barely talked as they redressed the Doctor and settled him into the bed. He showed no signs of stirring. When they were done Rose stared at the Doctor lying in the bed, oblivious to the world around him. This was Christmas all over again. Same room, same unconscious Doctor, and even the same pyjamas. This couldn't be real. She was in a nightmare.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked Jack quietly.

Jack didn't have an answer for her.

* * *

Day turned into night, and the Doctor didn't even move.

The atmosphere in the flat had drastically reversed from hysterical laughter to uncontrollable worry and fear in one fell swoop, and they still didn't know what was going on.

Rose kept imagining the worst possible scenarios: a sickness, a delayed after-effect of the regeneration, a breakdown into death…

Between her and Jack they had tried to think of something he'd had recently that could have caused this, but they had come up with nothing. He'd been eating and drinking as usual; he'd been perfectly fine until they'd got to the estate.

"He still hasn't moved," Jackie said as she closed the spare room door behind her, walking back over to the other two. "I put a blanket over the duvet, he was shaking."

Rose continued to stare at the floor. "Why has this happened?" she finally asked in a whisper.

No one answered.

"I think we all need to go to bed," Jack suggested, glancing around at the two women in the room. "He'll probably be fine in the morning."

Rose nodded, wiping her eyes of unfallen tears. "Probably," she said, and in a strange way, she believed it too.

* * *

_Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap._

Something was outside the front door of the Tyler flat.

Wanting to be let in.

_Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap._

Jack awoke clumsily from a deep sleep. He opened his eyes slowly to meet the living room ceiling, wondering what could have awoken him.

_Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap._

Was someone at the door? What time was it?

_Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap._

Well one thing was for certain – they weren't about to go away. Moaning, he dragged himself to his feet dressed in only a pair of blue boxer shorts and tried to remember where the light switch was.

_Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap._

He flicked on the light, and almost stumbled in surprise as the shocking bright light invaded his sleepy eyes. Blinking a few times to adjust he stumbled over to the front door, and pulled it open.

He peered out into the blackness.

No one was there.

He shivered as the breeze of the cold wind outside washed through him and he quickly shut the door again. Probably just starting to rain, he reasoned, and very willingly flicked off the light and felt his way back to his bed made up on the sofa.

He was already asleep when the door of the spare room clicked quietly closed.

* * *

It was a lovely sunny morning when Jackie awoke. Jack was still snoring loudly on the sofa when she passed through to make breakfast. She made tea and piled some breakfast onto a plate, and headed to the spare room where the Doctor was.

She opened the door as quietly as she could and stepped in. She could see the Doctor's wild brown hair sticking out from under the covers. Well that was good, wasn't it? At least he'd moved during the night.

She moved over to the bed, setting the tray down on the bedside table.

"Doctor?" she called. "Doctor?" No response.

She frowned. Something was wrong, here. She lifted a hand to grasp the covers, and pulled them back to reveal the person beneath.

And then she screamed.

Stumbling backwards she smacked into the wall, hands over her mouth in pure shock and horror. She could only watch as the person in the bed awoke with a jolt, deep brown eyes staring at her in an equal amount of shock before he bolted upright, and began to scream with her.

"Rose!!!" Jackie yelled, still staring at the person screaming at her.

"Mum, what the hell?" came Rose's sleepy voice as she came into the spare room, still in her nightie with her hair absolutely everywhere.

Jackie raised her hand, and pointed at the person in the bed. Rose looked.

"Oh my God," she whispered, shocked.

"Rose? What's going…" Jack trailed off pathetically as he saw what they were all looking at, somehow having lost the ability to talk. He let out an undignified manly squeak,

In the bed was a small, brown-haired brown-eyed boy, staring at them all with wide, terrified eyes.

"What the…" Jack whispered.

"Who is that?" Jackie asked in a whisper.

Rose swallowed. "I think… he's the Doctor."

There was a small, silent pause before Jackie spoke.

"He's smaller than I remember," she said.

* * *

**A/N: **Hey? What's this? Is this a "next time"? I haven't done this since Ramble 4!!! :D

_Chapter 2 – Hello, John!_

_"Why don't you go back to bed?" Jackie suggested._

_"But I awake!" he protested, suddenly launching off of the chair and jumping up and down, the pyjama shirt that had previously fitted his lean, adult form now hanging loosely on him, big enough to be his tent. Halfway through jumping his foot caught on the inside of the shirt and he fell to the floor lightly, giggling. The others watched in bemusement._

_"We really need to get 'im some clothes," Jackie said, gazing at the boy as he got to his feet and started running around in circles, still giggling to himself._

_"And a name," Jack said. "We can't keep calling him Doctor, 'cause, well, that's not the Doctor anymore."_

_The boy suddenly stopped, looking at him quizzically. "Doctor? That's a stoopid name," he said._

_"Well what is your name?" Jack asked, and then held his breath. Rose held her breath, too. Even Jackie held her breath. The Doctor's real name was…_


	2. Hello, John!

**A/N: **I don't like 7am. It shouldn't exist.

* * *

Chapter 2 – Hello, John!

Rose, Jack and Jackie watched in bizarre fascination as the boy they could only determine to be the Doctor eagerly yummed down breakfast cereal at the table, seemingly not caring about them watching him so intently.

"I'd like to wake up, now," Jack said, staring at the boy.

"How did this happen?" Rose asked the question they had all been asking themselves for what seemed like a very long time. But no one knew. Not even the faintest clue.

The boy Doctor was the one that broke the ensuing silence as he finished his food. "Where's Mummy?" he asked.

Rose frowned. His memories had regressed? "She's…" she tried to think of a suitable reason, aware Jackie and Jack were staring at her. "She's gone away."

"Daddy?" the boy asked.

"He's… away too."

"Irving?"

"He's gone away as well."

The boy sniffed. "Left me again," he said quietly, before sharply looking up at Jack, Rose and Jackie in turn. "Who are you?"

Rose gave him a supportive smile. "I'm Rose, this is Jack, and this is Jackie," she said, gesturing at each of them in turn.

The boy Doctor suddenly giggled. "Jack Jackie," he said, laughing. None of the adults in the room quite knew how that was funny as the he took his glass of orange juice and gulped it greedily down. "I want Mummy," he suddenly said.

Rose persisted with her comforting smile. "She'll be back soon, you're staying with us for a while, okay?"

He made no indication of having heard her; instead he set the glass of orange juice back on the table and frowned, pointing to the left side of his temple. "Head hurts," he said. "There. Don't feel well."

"Why don't you go back to bed?" Jackie suggested.

"But I awake!" he protested, suddenly launching off of the chair and jumping up and down, the pyjama shirt that had previously fitted his lean, adult form now hanging loosely on him, big enough to be his tent. Halfway through jumping his foot caught on the inside of the shirt and he fell to the floor lightly, giggling. The others watched in bemusement.

"We really need to get 'im some clothes," Jackie said, gazing at the boy as he got to his feet and started running around in circles, still giggling to himself.

"And a name," Jack said. "We can't keep calling him Doctor, 'cause, well, that's not the Doctor anymore."

The boy suddenly stopped, looking at him quizzically. "Doctor? That's a stoopid name," he said.

"Well what is your name?" Jack asked, and then held his breath. Rose held her breath, too. Even Jackie held her breath. The Doctor's real name was…

"You don't know?" the boy asked, looking annoyed. "Not telling!"

"Aww, c'mon," Jack urged.

"You have to guess!" the boy said, sticking out his tongue before he began running around in circles again.

"Maybe we should just call him John?" Rose suggested, turning back to the other two. "He always went by that when he had to."

Jackie and Jack both nodded in approval, turning their attentions back from the hyper child running around the kitchen floor to Rose. "What the hell are we gonna do?" Jack asked.

"We can't do anything," Rose realised. "We don't know what caused it, we can't ask the TARDIS… There's not really anyway we can reverse it at the moment."

"Aww," Jack said suddenly, grinning. "Do we have to change him back? He's just so damn cute."

Rose rolled her eyes. "At least we know the TARDIS is still working, though. If his memory's been regressed he's probably speaking Gallifreyan at the moment."

Jack nodded. "So maybe we just… wait. Until something turns up or the TARDIS comes out of lockdo-"

Suddenly there was a loud crash from the other room, and the sound of electric buzzing. The three adults quickly rose to their feet in alarm, glancing around their feet for the boy Doctor.

He wasn't there.

"Doctor!" Rose yelled, tearing out of the kitchen and into the living room where she could quite clearly see the child sitting next to the television that was now lying on the floor, holding a piece of wire in each hand.

"Hehe," the child said, grinning. "Brokified."

"He's gone and broken my bloody TV!" Jackie yelled as she began to storm over to the child Doctor, anger plain on her face…

The reaction from the boy was shocking. He suddenly jumped up onto his feet, eyes wide and staring at Jackie as he backed away, plainly terrified. Suddenly he burst into tears, diving in the gap between the sofa and the wall, curling up into a ball, crying. Jackie backed away, stunned.

Rose took one glance at her mother before running over to where the boy was hidden, approaching him cautiously. The child was completely curled in on himself, crying with what Rose could only assume to be terror.

"Hey, it's okay," she whispered, reaching out slowly, touching him on the shoulder.

"I did bad thing," the boy Doctor said, shuddering with tears. "Please don't."

Rose brushed her fingers caringly through his hair. "We're not gonna do anything to you, okay?"

He looked up at her through wet eyes before his eyes disconnected and looked behind her at Jackie, still lingering. "Make her go away," he said quietly. Rose looked at her mother, who took the hint and backed away across the room.

"She's gone," Rose said gently, offering her hand to him. "You gonna come out, now?"

The boy sniffed and held out his arms to Rose. She dutifully picked him up, holding him close to her chest as he buried his head in her shoulder. "Tired," he murmured.

"Bed for you," she said to the child, glaring at her mum before moving into the spare room.

Jack looked over at Jackie, who seemed a little shaken by the child's reaction.

"That wasn't an ordinary reaction," Jack said quietly. "He's regressed back to being very young, with his own parents… He's…"

"I know," Jackie said, staring sadly at the space Rose had disappeared with the child Doctor for a moment. "Poor little guy," she said, and then left the room.

* * *

Jackie waited the few hours next to the boy's bedside until he woke up. When his eyes opened they instantly focussed on her and he scrambled back towards the headboard, pulling the cover up to his nose and staring at her with fearful deep brown eyes.

"I thought you might be hungry," Jackie said kindly, holding out a muffin to him. He stared at it. "Banana-flavoured!" she added. This seemed to make him happy and he reached out to take the muffin, massive in his tiny hand. He started cramming it down.

"Hey, don't eat too fast," Jackie said, smiling. He stopped instantly, as if in freeze-frame. Jackie laughed. "You'll upset your tummy if you do."

He resumed eating, but now in slow-motion. Jackie laughed, and the boy Doctor began to giggle.

"We've got you some clothes, too," Jackie said, pointing to the ironed pile on the end of the bed. The boy's eyes lit up.

"Mine?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yours!"

"Yay!" the boy said, chewing on the banana muffin as he clambered out of the bed, the tent-like pyjama top still massive on his tiny frame. He ran over to the clothes pile and began to root around for something he liked, clothes flying everywhere. Finally he picked something out and walked back to the bed, lying them down on the duvet. He looked up at Jackie, staring expectantly.

"You need some help?" Jackie asked. He nodded, lips pouted. She reached forward to lift him up on the bed, but for some reason he tensed in her grip. Jackie sighed.

"Love," she began, brushing her hand through his wild brown hair. "You don't have to be scared of me."

He didn't reply, still tensed.

"I don't know what your parents think is acceptable but no one is ever gonna hurt you here, ok? No matter how many TVs you break. And if I ever hit you in any way you can hit me right back, okay sweetheart?"

He looked up at her, his grin restored as she hugged him tightly.

"There. Now let's get you dressed."

* * *

"We need to do something," Rose said, glancing at the door of the spare room from where she and Jack sat on the sofas in the living room.

"But what can we do?" Jack asked.

Rose paused for a moment, thinking. "Is the TARDIS unlocked, yet?"

Jack shrugged. "The Doctor said a couple of days…"

Rose was already getting up. "We need to check. Maybe she can help us."

Suddenly the door of the spare room burst open and the boy Doctor came running in, launching himself at Rose and hugging her middle tightly.

"Hello!" Rose greeted, hugging him back. "Do you like your new things?"

"Yeah!" he said.

"Good," Rose said, glancing at Jack. "Me and Jack have been talking, do you want to come with us to the TARDIS?"

The boy suddenly drew back, gazing up at her in disbelief. "TARDIS? A TARDIS? You gots a TARDIS?"

Rose nodded, smiling. "Yeah, we do."

"Wow!" the child exclaimed jumping up and down in excitement. "My Daddy says I'll have one after I finish the academy!" He tugged on Rose's top. "Let's go, let's go!"

* * *

**A/N: **I will keep this preview going... I will!**  
**

_Chapter 3 – Bath Time_

_"Hello!" Rose replied, moving forward to help, taking the bottle of shampoo, squeezing it out and rubbing it into his hair._

_"No!" he said, reaching up to his head. "Me try!"_

_"Ok," Rose conceded, laughing as he raked his tiny hands through his chaotic hair. "Careful," Rose said, "you'll get it in your…"_

_"Ahhh!"_

_"Eyes," Rose finished lamely._


	3. Bath Time

Chapter 3 – Bath Time

The TARDIS doors opened.

The boy Doctor stood between Jack and Rose, staring up into the TARDIS interior with wide, bright eyes. He gawped in amazement. He took a step forward, spinning around in circles and staring around at the massive interior as though he were entering Heaven.

Jack and Rose smiled as they stepped in after him, closing the door. The boy ran up to the console, running his hands along the side, still staring in fascinated disbelief at where he was. After a moment he finally looked up at Rose and Jack, beaming.

"She talking to me," he said.

"What's she sayin'?" Rose asked.

"She says… it's like before," the child said, but he sounded confused. "What does that mean, Rose?"

"I'm not sure," Rose said, and she meant it. "Can you ask her somethin' for us?"

"She can hear you," the boy Doctor said, reaching up to the buttons on the console, flicking a few switches as though he instinctively knew what he was doing.

Rose glanced at Jack, who nodded. "TARDIS, can you help us?"

It felt like a rush of warm air washed over her in reply, and seconds later the boy Doctor popped up from behind the console, still grinning.

"She says she'll think about what to do," he said, "but she don't know yet."

* * *

"John… John… sit still!"

"No!" the boy Doctor yelled back and smashed his hand into the water, splashing Jackie with it.

She groaned. "John, how am I ever gonna get you clean if you don't let me try?" she said sternly, trying to wash the child in the bath but having a rather difficult time. He splashed more water at her, giggling.

"Having fun?" Rose asked, wandering into the bathroom.

"Oh he's just as angelic as you were," Jackie replied, wiping the latest bath water off of her face.

"Bad then," Rose said, grinning.

"Rose!" the boy yelled, looking at her in delight and waving.

"Hello!" Rose replied, moving forward to help, taking the bottle of shampoo, squeezing it out and rubbing it into his hair.

"No!" he said, reaching up to his head. "Me try!"

"Ok," Rose conceded, laughing as he raked his tiny hands through his chaotic hair. "Careful," Rose said, "you'll get it in your…"

"Ahhh!"

"Eyes," Rose finished lamely. The boy began to rub his eyes, desperately trying to get out the shampoo. "No, John, don't do that!"

"Burns!" the child said, whimpering.

"If you rub your eyes you'll make it worse!" Jackie said, taking his wrists and pulling his hands away as he began to squint and blink, apparently on the verge of crying.

"Rose," a voice suddenly said from the bathroom doorway and Rose turned to find Jack hovering in the doorframe, frowning. "Come take a look at this."

Rose left the little Doctor with her Mum to follow Jack out the door and to the television where the news was in mid-broadcast, a stern news reporter talking directly to the camera.

"_There have been reports from up and down country of people spontaneously de-aging in their sleep. It is unknown what has caused this phenomenon…"_

Rose didn't need to hear any more. "Oh God."

"This is getting serious, the entire Earth could be in danger," Jack muttered, "we need to figure something out."

"But we can't do anythin'," Rose murmured, hand on her head. "Maybe the TARDIS will have something for us tomorrow…"

"Ah! Ah! Hot!" suddenly came a yell from the other room and seconds later the door burst open, the boy Doctor running through in his pyjamas and over to Rose, hiding behind her legs and peering out. Moments later Jackie came through the doorway holding a hairdryer.

"John, I need to dry your hair!" Jackie protested, advancing forward. The boy squealed and ran over to Jack, seeking more protection. Rose and Jack couldn't help laughing as Jackie started towards him again, but the boy Doctor was off in a shot, running behind the sofa and peeking out from the side.

Jackie made forwards again, smiling. "C'mon John…"

The child giggled and bolted out from behind the sofa, weaving in and out of Rose and Jack before grabbing the rug and diving under it, curling into a ball.

"Oh I wonder where he could be?" Jackie said to the air, smiling. "I can't see him!"

He giggled again, the rug shuddering.

"Jack, Rose, can you help me find him?" Jackie said looking at the two, who began to pretend search with her.

"Oh, he's completely disappeared!" Rose exclaimed in mock astonishment. The boy giggled again.

"Hey, did I hear something?" Jack asked, grinning at the others. "I thought I heard a mouse!"

The giggle came again.

"Oh, what's this?" Rose asked, and pulled back the rug he was hiding under. The boy Doctor laughed hugely and flipped onto his back, gazing up at Rose with an enormous grin in place.

"There he is!" Jackie said in mock surprise. "How on Earth did you manage that?"

Suddenly the boy Doctor opened his mouth, stretching his arms and legs in an enormous yawn.

"Aww, he's worn 'imself out," Jackie said as Rose picked up the child and held him to her. "Are you tired, sweetheart?"

The child nodded in Rose's shoulder. "I dun't feel well."

"Aw, you're still sick aren't you, poor thing," Rose said, kissing his forehead. She was beginning to feel quite motherly over the Doctor and her hormones were very confused. "Let's put you to bed."

* * *

Two hours later and the boy Doctor was lying on the sofa covered in a blanket, curled up against Rose who was stroking his hair comfortingly. He'd been crying all night, throwing up and complaining of headaches and stomach pains. It was a little heartbreaking to watch and not know what had done it or how they could treat it.

"He did it before," Rose said, holding the boy tightly. "Throwing up and stuff, before he… collapsed."

"There has to be _something _we can do," Jack said, thinking hard. "What did he say before? Coming? What was he talking about?"

"He was tryin' to warn us," Rose said, frowning. "He knew about it before… like he knew it would happen."

"Did anythin' weird happen to him before?" Jackie asked, playing detective. Jack and Rose looked at each other for a moment, thinking, but eventually shook their heads.

"He seemed fine… till we got here," Rose said, shrugging as she looked down at the sleeping boy in her lap, pulling the blanket a little more over him.

"Hold on," Jack said, sitting up slightly. "The news said people de-age in their sleep, right? That first night… I thought I heard something tapping at the door so I opened it, but no one was out there. I was half-asleep, I thought I dreamt it."

Rose connected the two together. "Maybe invisible to the naked eye? Something came in during the night when you opened the door and de-aged him?"

"Looks like it," Jack muttered, still thinking hard.

"Hold on," Jackie said suddenly, moving forward to the child. "There's somethin' you should see."

Jack and Rose watched in apprehension as Jackie pulled the child's shirt to expose his back and pointed to a puncture wound just under his shoulder blade, surrounded by a red rash. A look of confusion crossed Jack and Rose's faces.

"I found it when I bathed him," Jackie said.

Rose sighed. "None of this makes any sense."

Jack stood up, gazing at the child. "We're just gonna have to scan him tomorrow in the TARDIS, maybe she knows what's going on."

* * *

**A/N: **_Chapter 4 – A Grand Day Out_

_"She's fat," he said, pointing at a large woman sitting on the right._

_"John!" Rose exclaimed, resisting the urge to burst out laughing. "Don't say that!"_

_"But she is!" he protested._

_"John, it's not nice to say that," she said sternly, kneeling down to his height. He shut his mouth, looking guilty. Rose looked up at the woman, smiling apologetically. The woman scowled and turned her head to look out of the window. _

_"And she's rude," the boy Doctor added, staring at her._


	4. A Grand Day Out

**A/N: **Thank you all so much for your kind comments on this, I'm totally loving writing it and exploring the new approaches of the Doctor because I like putting him in new situations. I'm the youngest in my family at seventeen so I have little experience with children, I would've had a little sister but let's just say biology didn't work out. I get my characterisation of the little Doctor from TV shows, mainly Outnumbered :D So as you can see, he changes slightly over the chapters as a result of this as I get more into his character but it can be justified that he's gaining more confidence being around Rose, Jack and Jackie. So _constructive_ criticism is welcome. Let me put that in italics for one super special person. There :D

* * *

Chapter 4 – A Grand Day Out

"You're don't need to be scared," Rose said, trying to reassure the boy Doctor as he stared up at the TARDIS medical scanner like he wanted to be anywhere else in the Universe but there. His grip on her hand was tighter than ever as she walked him over to the scanner, lifting him up to sit on the bed. He looked around at the machine, his lips pouted, eyes wide. She smiled reassuringly as Jack started calibrating the machine, Jackie hovering just over her shoulder.

"It's not gonna hurt one bit," she said, stroking his face.

He was staying unusually quiet as Rose shifted his legs to put him down in lying position.

"We're just gonna find out what's been makin' you so sick, okay?" Jackie said, holding his hand as he stared up at her and Rose, plainly terrified.

"Okay, starting scan now," Jack said, tapping a few buttons. Jackie gave the boy Doctor a quick kiss on the forehead before the glass shield of the scanner clicked shut over him. Jackie, Rose and Jack watched as thin red lines moved up and down the child, scanning his internal and external body. His skeleton appeared on the screen, layered gradually with his organs, blood circulation, respiratory system, muscles, skin and hair. After a moment the scanning was complete and the glass shield clicked open. The boy Doctor instantly sat up and jumped off of the scanner, running to Jackie and throwing his arms around her.

"Aww," Jackie said smiling, ruffling the boy's hair. "You were so brave!"

He looked up at her, grinning. "Yeah! Can I have cookies?"

She smiled. "Of course you can! And you know what? You were so brave that we're gonna go and buy you some toys!"

His eyes glowed. "Really? Yay!" He hugged Jackie tightly. "I love you!" He ran over to Rose, hugging her tight. "I love you!" He ran over to Jack, hugging him too. "I love you!"

Jack laughed, hugging him back and lifting him up, holding the child in his arms as he turned to Rose and Jackie. "It'll be a while before the TARDIS can give us the results."

"Can we go now?" the boy asked, looking eagerly at them all as he clung on to Jack's neck. "Can we? Can we go now?"

"Sure!" Rose said. The child Doctor jumped out of Jack's arms and ran over to Jackie, taking her hand and trying to pull her out of the room.

"Now! Now! Now!" he demanded as he dragged Jackie stumbling out of the door.

"I'll stay and wait for the results," Jack said, giving a mock salute. "You guys have fun."

"We will," Rose said, giving a grin and running out the door after the Doctor and her mother.

* * *

"Rose, why is everyone staring at us?" the boy Doctor asked as she, him and Jackie got onto the bus to town. Rose looked around at the people on the packed bus, giving a huge sigh as she found that they were all indeed staring at them with distaste.

"Because they think I'm your Mum," she said, avoiding eye contact as she led him by the hand up the bus aisle.

"She's fat," he said, pointing at a large woman sitting on the right.

"John!" Rose exclaimed, resisting the urge to burst out laughing. "Don't say that!"

"But she is!" he protested.

"John, it's not nice to say that," she said sternly, kneeling down to his height. He shut his mouth, looking guilty. Rose looked up at the woman, smiling apologetically. The woman scowled and turned her head to look out of the window.

"And she's rude," the boy Doctor added, staring at her.

Rose had to bury her face into John's shoulder in a desperate attempt to stop herself laughing. Thankfully Jackie saved the day by taking her arm and pulling them both to the back of the bus. The bus began to move and finally Rose managed to subdue herself enough looked up at the boy, who was staring at her.

"He's old," he said, pointing at a man sitting infront of them.

"And you're young," Jackie said gently. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"But he'll be dead soon," the boy Doctor said, his face a picture of innocence.

Jackie had to take control of the situation again since Rose looked just about ready to cry with laughter. "John, you can't say things like that. It's not nice. Apologise to those people right now."

The child looked insanely guilty, staring at the floor and kicking his heels against the seat. "Sorry old man, sorry fat woman," he said, before jumping up onto his feet and staring out of the window. "Wooow…" he said, his eyes glowing in delight. "Earth is weird. What's that?" he asked, pointing.

"What's what?" Rose asked, looking out the window.

"Never mind, it's gone," he said as Rose picked him up and put him back on the seat again. He jumped up and pointed out the window again. "What's that?"

"Those are traffic lights," Jackie answered, picking him up and sitting him down again.

"What they do?" he asked.

"They tell people when to…"

"What's that?" he asked, getting up and pointing again.

"That's…"

"That?"

"Well…"

"That?"

"A…"

"That?"

"G…"

"That?"

"John, sit down!" Rose said sternly, picking him up and putting him on the seat. "Else we won't get you anything."

He pouted his lips, looking up at her with puppy dog eyes. "I'm sorry."

Rose sighed at his face. "Nine hundred years earlier and he's _still _got it," she muttered before raising her voice. "Now sit still and behave."

"Okay," he said, folding his arms and kicking his legs against his seat again, staring down the bus aisle. "What's that?" he asked, pointing.

Rose sighed.

* * *

"Right," Rose started once they got into the shopping centre, addressing the boy Doctor. "Don't wander off, yeah? There are bad things…"

"Monsters?" he asked eagerly.

"Very, very bad monsters that will hurt you and steal you away," Rose said, nodding. "So don't leave mine or Jackie's side, okay?"

"Okay," he said, nodding.

Rose smiled, taking his hand and turning. "Now let's go buy you stuff!"

"Yay!" he yelled, letting go of her hand and running into the crowd. Rose sighed again as Jackie ran after him, screaming, "John! John! Get back here, now!"

* * *

"I want this, and this, and this, and this…" the boy Doctor pointed at practically everything he saw in the store. "And this and this and… What's this?" he picked up a football from the basket and held it in the air.

"A football," Jackie answered.

"Can I have one?"

"Of course you can, love," Jackie said, taking the ball from his hands and adding it to the stack of toys she was already struggling to carry the weight of.

"Yay!" he said, grinning as Jackie turned and made her way to the counter to join her daughter, who was also struggling under a ton of boxes. The boy Doctor turned back to the basket of footballs, taking one out and bouncing it experimentally. He threw the ball in the air and swung his foot forward to connect with the ball. It sailed across the store easily, the boy Doctor cheering it on as it flew and flew and flew and…

Connected with and old lady's head, who fell soundlessly to the floor.

"Uh oh," the boy Doctor muttered, staring transfixed. In seconds he turned and ran over to Jackie and Rose, tugging on Rose's sleeve desperately. "Can we go? Can we go, Rose? Go now! C'mon!" He pulled on her, digging his heels into the ground but couldn't shift her at all.

"John! Stay still!" Rose said, shaking his grip. "Stand here!"

"Go now…" the child Doctor said, regripping Rose's arm and pulling as he glanced nervously over to where he knew the old lady was. "We go now!"

"Take him out, Rose," Jackie said, "I'll be out in a minute."

Rose nodded, taking his hand and leading him out of the store into the shopping centre. The boy Doctor stared at the old woman sitting up on the floor surrounded by her family, rubbing her head as he and Rose passed through the sliding doors.

"What was all that about then?" Rose asked, taking his hand.

The boy Doctor looked around shiftily. "Did a bad thing."

Rose's eyes widened. "You didn't break anythin' did you?"

He shook his head, and pointed up to the old woman through the glass window, looking around her environment in a daze with one hand on her head and the other holding a football.

"Oh John…" she said, laughing and pulling him into a hug. "Don't kick footballs at old ladies heads."

"Accident!" he protested. "I'm sorry."

Rose couldn't help but marvel at the fact that between him now and him being nine hundred years old there was hardly any difference.

* * *

"We're home!" Rose announced as they burst into the flat where Jack was lounging on the sofa watching television. He grinned at them all.

"Fun day out?" he asked.

Rose pulled a face.

"YES!" the boy yelled, punching the air and ran over to Jack, grabbing his hand and pulling him onto his feet. "Come play with me, Jack!"

"How 'bout you go and unpack all your new stuff, John? I need to have a talk with Rose and Jackie."

"Ok!" he yelled, running out of the room. Jack turned to Rose and Jackie, holding out a slip of paper, which Rose took.

"Is it bad?" Rose asked in slight trepidation. Her heart sank when Jack nodded.

"He's allergic to whatever made that puncture mark," Jack explained. "He had an extreme reaction to it back before he de-aged, and he's now feeling all the little after-effects. He's okay for now but if he gets another of those puncture marks, whatever it is, especially now he's a kid and much weaker, he might die."

Rose and Jackie stared down at the contents of the piece of paper – a list of medicines to use in case he had another bad reaction. Rose just hoped she didn't have to use them.

"Jack!" a voice came from the other room, and seconds later the child Doctor appeared, hopping from foot to foot before running over to Jack and tugging on his trouser leg repeatedly. "Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack… Come play!"

"Sure," Jack said, giving one last look at Jackie and Rose before disappearing after the little Doctor.

The little Doctor led him to the spare bedroom, and to Jack's complete surprise he ducked under the bed and pulled out two things from underneath – it was the sonic screwdriver, and a small metal contraption made of pieces of electronic devices all wired together in a bodge job. Jack stared in surprise.

"Where did you get this?" he asked.

"Made it," the boy replied, sniffing as he flicked what Jack presumed to be the 'on' switch. Instantly the circular screen in the centre lit up and Jack was looking at something he could only assume to be some kind of radar, a green dot in the centre.

"With what?"

The boy Doctor looked a bit guilty. "Stuff."

Jack laughed as the realisation dawned on him. "Oooh! This is why none of Jackie's electric stuff works properly anymore!"

The boy Doctor looked even more guilty at that. Jack laughed again, hugging him with one arm.

"So what does it do?"

The child suddenly stopped, his expression going vacant as he somehow seemed to stare right through Jack.

"Tracking," he said in a whisper.

Jack blinked. "What?"

The boy suddenly jerked, as if being awoken from a dream. "Dunno!" he pushed it to Jack, who picked it up, confused. "Yours now. Come play cars with me!"

Jack nodded, but he was only half concentrating. It was possible, quite possible, that a bit of the Doctor's older self was still in there… and trying desperately to help them.

* * *

**A/N: **_Chapter 5 – Forever and Ever_

_"Okay," Jack said as Rose took a seat on the other side of the boy Doctor. "What's the longest word you know?"_

_The boy Doctor frowned for a moment, thinking hard before he began to move the bricks again. Jack watched as he began to form the word…_

_**PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS**_

_Jack blinked as Rose laughed. "Well that showed me, didn't it."_


	5. Forever and Ever

Chapter 5 – Forever and Ever

"ROSE!"

Rose awoke the sound of her mother screaming in her ear. For a moment she thought she was late for school and her Mum was yelling at her to get up…

"ROSE! WAKE UP!"

"Muuum…" Rose complained, turning over and pulling the duvet over her head. Jackie quite literally ripped it off of her and threw the duvet across the room.

"It's the Doctor!" Jackie yelled. "He's gone!"

Rose sat bolt upright, instantly awake. "What?"

Jack suddenly burst into the room, half-dressed and his hair everywhere. "He's not in the flat. I've checked all over."

Rose was already up, pulling on her dressing gown and running out of the flat to the balcony.

"John!" she yelled, cupping her hands to her mouth, yelling across the estate. "JOHN!"

Jack was already running off to the stairwell, somehow not caring he was still half naked. "I'll check the park!" he yelled over his shoulder as Jackie pushed past Rose and ran down the balcony.

"I'll ask Sandra!"

Rose nodded, looking back down to the clearing below as she yelled again, "JOHN! JOHN!" but got nothing back. She ran to the stairwell and practically flew down it, out onto the clearing, still yelling his name. Panicking, she forced herself to calm down and actually look at her surroundings. Then she noticed the TARDIS sitting in the Powell Estate, silent and stationary.

She ran, digging out her key on the way and slipping it inside the lock, turning and pushing the door open… hoping… praying…

A relieved smile spread on her face as she found the young Doctor lying in the TARDIS column, an outside plate removed. He was curled up in the wires hugging a teddy to his chest, bathed in a warm golden light with his eyes closed, sleeping.

* * *

"Ok, can you spell cat?" Jack asked encouragingly.

The boy Doctor moved his new letter bricks to form the word **CAT**.

"How about something a little harder, smile?"

**SMILE**

"Okay," Jack said as Rose took a seat on the other side of the boy Doctor. "What's the longest word you know?"

The boy Doctor frowned for a moment, thinking hard before he began to move the bricks again. Jack watched as he began to form the word…

**PNEUMONOULTRAMICROSCOPICSILICOVOLCANOCONIOSIS**

Jack blinked as Rose laughed. "Well that showed me, didn't it."

The boy giggled before he pushed away the bricks, and began to make a new word.

**EPLOXNA**

"What's that, then?" Rose asked, but the child Doctor wasn't listening, too absorbed in whatever he was doing. He pushed the bricks away and made another word.

**MARKET**

Jack was beginning to click as the child Doctor pushed away the bricks and made another word.

**MIDDAY**

Jack looked at the boy Doctor, but he was staring intently at the bricks with the same unreadable expression he'd had when he had given Jack the 'tracking' device. Jack glanced at Rose, who was staring down at the words, trying to piece things together.

**TIMELOOP**

Then the penny dropped. Eploxna was the name of the planet they had been on just before they had come back to Jackie's… they'd been in the market at midday… but was it significant?

"Doctor?" Jack asked gently, leaning forward slightly. "What happened at midday? Was that where you got the mark on your back?"

But the child was losing concentration as he suddenly and frantically began to spell more and more words…

THETA SIGMA

**LUNGBARROW**

**RASSILON**

**CYBERMAN**

**SARAH JANE**

**LEELA**

**SLITHEEN**

TARDIS

**JACK**

**ROSE**

**JACKIE**

**DALEK**

The boy suddenly stopped, staring at the word he'd just formed, confused.

"Jack," he began, frowning. "What's Dalek mean?"

The Doctor was gone.

Jack sighed. "Nothing, John." He looked at Rose again who just shrugged, evidently as confused as he was. As if on cue the doorbell rang and Jack got up to answer it, leaving Rose with the boy Doctor.

Jack got to the door, pulling it open to reveal a woman in what appeared to be a full UNIT uniform, her hair pulled back with a military hat slanted on her head.

"We have information that the Doctor might be here," she said simply, not even greeting Jack.

"And?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We are desperate for help with the alien invasion situation, the Doctor is the only one who can help us. May I speak to him?"

"Well sure," Jack began, glancing over his shoulder to where he could see the boy Doctor still playing in the living room. "As soon as he's finished his brick game."

The UNIT woman looked confused, but then her eyes widened as there was a stampede of footsteps and the boy Doctor came running out into the hall to pull on Jack's arm.

"Jack! Jack!" he said. "Come play with me and Rose!" He suddenly noticed the woman at the door and grinned happily, sticking out his hand for her to shake.

"Hi!" he said.

The UNIT woman took the hand and shook it, bemused. "Doctor?" she asked.

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?" the boy wondered before grabbing Jack's arm again. "Jaaaack…"

"I'm coming!" Jack assured him, looking apologetically at the UNIT soldier. "Sorry, he can't help." And closed the door.

* * *

"How are my boys?" Rose asked as she walked out into the park where Jack and the boy Doctor were playing football with makeshift goalposts. The moment he heard Rose's voice the child looked up and grinned, arms in the air.

"12-0!" he said, swinging his leg and kicking the ball, falling over backwards as Jack dived desperately to save it, missing by inches as he slammed down into the dirt.

"GOOOOOOAL!" the boy yelled, getting up and doing a lap of honour around the goalposts. Jack sighed, picking himself up off of the floor as the boy Doctor ran off to retrieve the ball.

"He's spinning and curling it!" Jack protested to Rose, panting. "He only learnt how to kick a ball an hour ago!"

"Me goalie now!" The boy Doctor had retrieved the ball, throwing it at Jack. Rose watched as they both assumed the positions and Jack kicked the ball, not lightly.

"Jack, not so hard!" Rose cried in dismay. "You'll hurt him!"

The child Doctor caught it with ease, yelling in delight.

"Oh, there's no chance of that," Jack said with a sigh, trudging back to goalie position. Within moments it was 14-0.

"You're rubbish," the child Doctor said, picking up the ball. "Can we go play in the park?"

"Anything but this," Jack agreed eagerly, Rose laughing as the boy Doctor whooped and ran off into the playpark. By the time Jack and Rose had caught up he was sitting on the roundabout, waiting for them.

"Push, push!" he demanded. Rose sat beside him on the roundabout, holding him tightly as Jack gently pushed.

"Faster!" the boy yelled, "faster!"

"You sure you won't get dizzy?" Rose joked as Jack pushed a little bit harder. It was gaining quite a lot of speed, now.

"Faster! FASTER!"

"Wait, wait, hold on…" Rose began, but whatever her protest was it was lost as it got faster and faster…

"FASTER!" the boy Doctor demanded.

"No! Not faster!" Rose shrieked from a blur of speed.

"FASTER FASTER FASTER!"

"NO NO NO!"

"Please, Jack, faster!"

"Please, Jack, STOP!"

"Wheeeee!"

"AGH!"

"Wheeeeeeeeee!"

"AAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHH!"

"Okay, I'm slowing down now!" Jack yelled, laughing.

"Nooo!"

"Yeeeees!"

It finally came to a halt and the boy Doctor had jumped off in seconds, showing no signs of dizziness. Rose just sat on the roundabout for a moment, trying to gather her senses.

"You okay Rose? You look a bit green," Jack said to the woman, laughing his head off as the little Doctor charged over to the slide.

"Just… gimme a minute," she panted, feeling quite, quite nauseous.

* * *

As the sky began to darken Rose, Jack and the boy Doctor were lying on the grass with their hands behind their heads, staring up at the stars twinkling above them.

"When I grow up I'm gonna be a Time Lord," the boy Doctor said, grinning. "I'm gonna travel around space in a TARDIS _all_ day."

Jack and Rose exchanged smiles. "Yeah, I bet you will," Jack said.

"Don't wanna stay on Gallifrey _forever_," he said, sniffing. "They want me to."

"You can do whatever you want," Rose said gently. "And I know you will."

"I like it here," the boy continued, closing his eyes and spreading out his arms and legs on the grass. "I like Earth. I wanna stay here with you."

Jack and Rose looked at each other again before Rose turned over to face the little Doctor, cupping his cheek as he turned his head towards her.

"You can stay here forever," she said, smiling.

"Forever?" he repeated, eyes glowing in the evening light as a huge grin spread across his face.

"Forever," Rose repeated, leaning forward and kissing him on the forehead.

Ten minutes later and he was fast asleep in the crook of her arm.

* * *

**A/N: **_Chapter 6 – E Joi, Readers..._

_ Jack openly laughed. "Do you fancy Rose?"_

_ The boy Doctor suddenly blushed a deep red, letting go of Rose's hand and running off across the clearing to the stairwell. After the initial shock had passed Rose was laughing with Jack, the both of them running after him._

_ But neither of them were prepared for what happened next._

_ There was a sudden, inhumane screech from above and Jack and Rose jerked their heads up just in time to see a flying, snake-like creature shimmer into existence from apparently nowhere and dive for the boy Doctor, wings outstretched, fangs out in a pounce..._


	6. E Joi, Readers

**A/N: **RIP Rex.**  
**

As for the chapter... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...

* * *

Chapter 6 – E Joi, Readers...

The hyper-orientated screaming was what told them the boy Doctor was awake, jumping to sit on the sofa beside Jackie, tugging on her jacket.

"Jackie, Jackie... I'm hungry..." he said, pulling his puppy eyes.

Jackie smiled and kissed him on the forehead. "What d'you fancy?"

"Toast!" the boy yelled in delight. "Marmalade!"

"We're all out of marmalade," Jackie said seemingly apologetically to the child. He was instantly off in a shot to Jack and Rose, tugging on their trouser legs in either hand.

"Jack, Jack, Rose, Rose, can we go get marmalade?"

"Of course we can," Rose said, ruffling his hair. "But you need to get dressed first."

"Okay!" the boy said, running off again and back into his bedroom.

"I got it," Jack said, getting up to help the child Doctor get dressed. Five minutes later they both emerged once more, the boy Doctor's hand in Jack's as he pulled the ex-Time Agent towards the door.

"Come oooon!" the child urged, dragging the man who was twice the size of him towards the door with surprising ease. "Let's go!"

* * *

The nearest Londis was in the estate itself and open for business as usual. Jack and Rose couldn't stop the little Doctor as he tore into the the shop and began his hunt along the shelves for marmalade.

"Morning, Rose," the shopkeeper – a young, well-built man with chin stubble and a grade three haircut – greeted her warmly, smiling.

Rose looked at him, her brow furrowing. "Ain't it Dave's shift today, Steve?"

Steve gave a half shrug. "He's off sick. Been affected by the volcano gases. He's de-aged."

"Volcano gases?" Rose repeated.

"That's what they're sayin' it is," Steve said, leaning forward to take one of the morning papers from the basket and handing it to Rose, who unfolded it and checked the headline. ** 'GASES ARE TO BLAME' SAY EXPERTS AS AGE PROBLEM GROWS.** Great pun, Rose thought.

"Some kinda unknown gas came out of the volcano causin' the de-aging n' stuff," Steve was saying as she read. "Growth 'ormones or summat. Who's this?"

Rose looked up from the article, finding Steve staring at Jack, who was currently chasing after the boy Doctor with very little success. "Oh, that's Jack," Rose said, only really half paying attention as she looked back down at the paper in her hands.

"I don't remember you 'aving a kid," Steve continued, sounding almost disappointed. "Is he Jack's?" It took a moment for Rose to process before she suddenly looked up sharply, eyes wide.

"Oh, he's not... John's not... Jack's not..." she trailed off into nothingness, clearing her throat in embarrassment. "John's been affected by the... volcanic gases."

"Oh, I see," Steve said, but Rose was pretty sure that he didn't.

"We're not like that," she said quickly. "Me, Jack and John, we're just friends." _As much as Jack would like a threesome... _

"Oh, right, so you're still on the market?" Steve asked, leaning casually on the desk with his most attractive smile on. Thankfully his advances were interrupted by the boy Doctor running over to her and thrusting the jar of marmalade in her face.

"Found it!" he yelled, plainly very happy at the fact he had. Moments later Jack stumbled to a stop beside the child, doubled over and gasping for air.

"He needs a leash," Jack panted as the boy just grinned up at them. Rose took the jar and placed it on the counter beside the newspaper, fumbling in her pockets for some change. The boy Doctor stood staring at Steve for a moment, tugging on his hair with one hand and sucking on the fingers of his other hand. Rose could tell just by the expression on his face that he was about to say something massively embarrassing so she quickly scooped him up and held him to her chest, Jack taking the marmalade and the paper before she rapidly left the shop with a call of farewell over her shoulder to Steve.

"He was ugly and smelly," the boy Doctor said as Rose set him back down on the concrete again outside the shop. "And he was trying to get you, Rose! Don't say yes."

Rose laughed, sharing an amused glance with Jack. "No, he's not my type."

"Good," the boy Doctor said, sniffing as they made their way back to the flat. "You need better. You're pretty."

Jack openly laughed. "Do you fancy Rose?"

The boy Doctor suddenly blushed a deep red, letting go of Rose's hand and running off across the clearing to the stairwell. After the initial shock had passed Rose was laughing with Jack, the both of them running after him.

But neither of them were prepared for what happened next.

There was a sudden, inhumane screech from above and Jack and Rose jerked their heads up just in time to see a flying, snake-like creature shimmer into existence from apparently nowhere and dive for the boy Doctor, wings outstretched, fangs out in a pounce...

The boy stopped dead in his tracks, staring up at the creature with a mixture of total fear, utter bewilderment, definite shock, and just plain excitement. Rose screamed as Jack bolted forward, yelling for the child to move... But it was too late. The creature reared up and shot something at the child Doctor, who stumbled and fell to the floor, crying out with pain with his hands clutched to his chest. The creature screeched again and made as if to pounce in for the killing move...

Jack drew out his gun and pointed it at the creature, squeezing off a few shots as he made it to the child, scooping him up with one arm and throwing him over his shoulder. The bullets had absolutely no effect on the creature, ricocheting off and into the ground.

"Goddamnit why does this never work on you guys?" Jack yelled in aggravation, but all the same, pulled the trigger until he was out. The creature screeched at him once more but it had got the message, whirling up into the sky in a blur before it faded from existence.

Then there was only silence.

"Doctor!" Rose screamed as Jack put his gun back in his holster, pulling the child off of his shoulder and holding him in his arms. The boy was crying, his hands covering his chest. Rose was already next to Jack, pulling the boy Doctor's hands from his chest to reveal a small black dart embedded in his skin through his clothes.

"This is it..." Rose realised. "This is what he's allergic to! Jack?"

"TARDIS!" Jack yelled instantly, turning and sprinting with the child towards the TARDIS, still parked just across the estate. Rose's heart was thumping in her chest as Jack lead the way through the corridors to the TARDIS Infirmary, placing the little Doctor on a bed before drawing out the list of medications from his pocket and commenced hunting them down. Rose quickly sat next to the crying boy, trying in vain to comfort him, holding his hand, kissing his forehead.

"Everything's gonna be okay, Doctor, you're gonna be fine..."

"It hurts," the child whimpered, tears streaming down his face. "Rose... Rose... I feel sick."

"You're gonna be okay, I swear, I promise," Rose whispered quickly, brushing back his hair before looking up across the Infirmary. "Jack! Quick!"

"Nearly got 'em all!" Jack yelled, still frantically hunting for the medication on the list.

"Rose..." the boy sobbed, gasping for air, wheezing his words. "Please... please help... me."

"We are, we're helpin', don't give up, be strong..." she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "You'll be okay, we're gonna take care of you, yeah?"

"Why... are... are you... talking in a... funny... language...?"

Rose blinked. "What?"

"E.. joi..." the child suddenly whispered. "E joi... Liala..."

"Oh God..." Rose realised in seconds. "The translation circuit! It's gone! JACK!"

Jack ran over to the bed with piles of medicine bottles in his arms, dropping them all onto the bed before he quickly grabbed a hypodermic and began to fill it. "Hold on!"

"E keela," the boy whispered. "E'i l'en... Moh'a? Poh'a? Liala..."

He closed his eyes. Rose knew what would come next, and she couldn't bear to watch it. She ran out of the Infirmary and into the corridor, tears pouring down her face as she sobbed for the child.

"Rose! I need some help in here!" came Jack's voice from inside the room, but she couldn't. There was no way she could. If she so much as looked at him her heart would break...

"Rose?" it was Jackie. Rose couldn't even bring her head up to look at her, gasping for air through her tears. Jackie didn't need a diagram. Very quickly she'd run into the Infirmary, leaving Rose crying in the corridor as she pictured the boy Doctor fighting for his life on the other side of that door.

* * *

E joi – I'm sorry

Liala – Rose

E keela – I'm sleepy

E'i l'en... – I can't...

Moh'a? Poh'a? – Mummy? Daddy?

* * *

**A/N:** Just as a side note, I make up Gallifreyan (But now my Gallifreyan dictionary is piling up), I did it in Dreams and it was well-received by you guys and made me feel good, so I decided to try my luck again :D

_Chapter 7 – Night Attack_

_"Where'd it go?" Jackie shrieked, panicking with her hand on her chest, spinning around. Jack looked down to check the tracker..._

_Suddenly it appeared over the bed, screeching its blood-chilling cry. Jackie commenced screaming again as Rose jolted in shock at the thing right above her and the little Doctor, for a moment stunned as it quickly thrust its fangs into the boy Doctor's chest, beginning to feed off of the child Doctor..._


	7. Night Attack

**A/N: **So I watched Series Five for a while, but after I totally forgot last week it was actually on (which is something that would've NEVER happened in Ten's era let me assure you :x) I've decided it's really not for me :O

* * *

Chapter 7 – Night Attack

It was hours later that Rose dared to enter the TARDIS Infirmary.

Jack and Jackie were sitting next to one of the beds, and as Rose peered over her mother's shoulder she could see the boy Doctor laying within, almost drowned by the covers. He was evidently unconscious with an oxygen mask secured on his face, a heart rate monitor beeping out periodically, perfectly still but for the rise and fall of his chest. Rose took a few hesitant steps forward, her breath caught in her throat. He looked so small and vulnerable in the huge adult-sized bed, covered in tubes and wires.

Silently she took a seat next to him, placing a teddy under the covers in the crook of his arm. For a moment she just watched him sleeping.

"How is he?" she finally asked after several minutes had passed.

"He'll be okay," Jack said, resting a supportive hand on her shoulder. "As long as we're on constant watch. He's strong."

Rose took the boy Doctor's hand in her own, marvelling at just how tiny he was. His hand was almost lost in her's.

"It'll come back, won't it?" Rose suddenly asked. "For him."

Jack nodded slowly. "Tonight."

"But he's safe in 'ere?" Jackie asked, glancing at Rose and Jack. "The Doctor's got defences, right?"

Rose nodded, if but a little distractedly. "He said... the hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get in."

Jack cleared his throat, almost hesitant. Rose and Jackie were alert instantly, spinning around to stare at him. "What?"

"Well... the invisibility thing. I'm not sure, but I think this creature has the capability of shifting between matter and non-matter worlds... meaning it can easily get through a wall or a locked door. If the Doctor brought them to Earth with him then maybe when I opened the door for it it hadn't quite mastered the matter of Earth, not until it was done with de-aging him."

"How can you know that?" Rose asked. "Maybe you're wrong."

"If you go back to the flat and check the bricks in his room he was playing with this morning, they say 'shifting' 'matter' and 'lifeform'," Jack replied quietly.

"Then we need to get 'im out!" Jackie said instantly, rising to her feet quickly. "Take 'im, hide 'im somewhere for the night!"

"Nowhere's safe, Mum!" Rose almost snapped. "They've got his scent, they've marked him, they've done it before and they're tryin' again! Besides, he's not strong enough to move anywhere..." She looked back at the child Doctor, all her anger suddenly dissipated as she stared at his small, weak form. "We can't do anythin'," she finally finished weakly.

"We can protect him," Jack said, already in the process of reloading his gun. "The TARDIS is the best defence we've got and we can add to that."

"They've gotta have a weakness, we just need to work out what," Rose said, thinking hard. "Maybe he's already told us what we need to do? And we missed it?"

Jack sighed, head in his hands. "I don't know. I just don't know."

* * *

The hours ticked by, and it very quickly became obvious the child Doctor had slipped into a coma. His brainwaves were very low and his double tiny hearts were beating as though he'd just run a sprint. His chest rose and fell not at all smoothly, his entire body trembling despite the fact Jackie had piled him with blankets.

But at least he was still alive.

Day turned into night, but the three adults knew wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight as they waited for the inevitable attack.

It was 2am before something happened – the shrill beeping of something going off in Jack's pocket. Rose and Jackie were startled, jerking out of their half-sleep to stare at the man sitting at the end of the bed.

Jack's eyes widened as he realised what it was. "The device!" He started hunting around in his pockets for the metal contraption the little Doctor had given him, finally pulling it out and holding it out for them all to see. "He said tracking." The green dot in the centre was now slightly off to Jack's right. Jack looked to where the the dot indicated. It was the child Doctor. "Tracking..." Jack repeated slowly. "Tracking him and..."

His eyes drifted across the screen to a small red dot on the radar that definitely wasn't there before, moving towards the green dot extremely quickly...

He looked up at Jackie and Rose. "It's coming," he said simply. Jackie and Rose visibly went completely rigid, staring at him with wide eyes. It was starting.

Jack ran out of the Infirmary, down the hall, through the console room until he burst out of the doors onto the Powell Estate, all the while clutching the tracker to watch the red dot. It was gaining.... It was almost on top of him...

He looked up at the sky, scanning the horizon on all sides for any hint of the creature, but if it was around it had shifted to be invisible. Keeping his eye on the tracker he pointed his gun up into the sky, bracing himself...

There was a loud screech and suddenly the creature shimmered into existence before him, baring its fangs and screaming at him...

Despite he knew how useless it would be he fired off a few shots, which only ricocheted off of the creature's hard exterior as it screeched once more and disappeared again. Panicked, Jack spun around on the spot to check the skies, but it had gone.

He looked at the tracker in his hand. The red dot was going straight for the green dot...

It was inside the TARDIS.

Jack began to run.

* * *

The Infirmary doors practically flew across the room as the creature burst in, screeching and baring its fangs to Jackie and Rose stood by the boy Doctor's bed. Jackie instantly screamed, her hand over her mouth as Rose stared, transfixed, unsure of what to do...

It lunged forward for the child. Rose sprang into instant action, diving to the little Doctor and throwing herself over him in a futile attempt to protect him. Her body went rigid and she buried her head into the pillow, waiting for the sure pain that would follow...

"Get back!" Jack's voice yelled and Rose looked up to find him warding off the creature with a metal chair, swinging it up threateningly towards the creature. It didn't seem to care, staring hungrily in Rose's direction...

Then she saw something lying on the bedside table.

Whether it was sensible or not she didn't have time to decide. She lunged for the sonic screwdriver and fumbled clumsily for a moment before turning over and pointing it directly at the creature, praying to god it was on a good setting... then pressed the button.

The effect was instantaneous. The creature screeched again, this time in pain as it backed off and flew, disorientated into the Infirmary wall where it impacted with amazing force. Growing in confidence Rose got up to kneeling position and kept the sonic pointed at the creature. It flailed and spun around in what Rose could only deem to be torturous pain until it instantaneously disappeared, and Rose let go of the button.

"Where'd it go?" Jackie shrieked, panicking with her hand on her chest, spinning around. Jack looked down to check the tracker...

Suddenly it appeared over the bed, screeching its blood-chilling cry. Jackie commenced screaming again as Rose jolted in shock at the thing right above her and the little Doctor, for a moment stunned as it quickly thrust its fangs into the boy Doctor's chest, beginning to feed off of the child Doctor...

"NO!" Rose yelled, pressing down the button again. The creature was cut off in mid-feed as it was practically thrown backwards again into a trolley of medical instruments which scattered all over the floor with a deafening crash. She kept it held down this time even as it disappeared.

"It's gone!" Jack said with a gasp, checking the tracker. The red dot was moving away from the green dot extremely fast, moving across the radar at incredible pace until it disappeared off of the side. "It's off the radar!"

Rose turned over instantly to check the boy. He didn't seem to have declined in age. The heart rate monitor was still ringing out and his breathing seemed to have levelled out. Jack was already checking the monitors beside her.

"His brainwaves have increased," he said with a note of relief in his voice.

"He's okay, he's fine..." Rose breathed, holding the unconscious boy Doctor tightly. "You're okay."

"What the 'ell was that?" Jackie demanded to know, still trying to recover her wits and her dignity.

"That was the 'volcanic gases'," Rose muttered, still holding the boy tightly. "The thing we've gotta beat."

"How the 'ell are we gonna kill that thing?" Jackie wondered, slightly calmer now. Rose looked at Jack, who pulled a face. Jackie looked between them both.

No one had any idea. And the only one who did was a five-year-old boy lying unconscious in Rose's arms.

* * *

**A/N: **_Chapter 8 - Caal'on'e'i'ot Ce_

_"Okay," he said into her shoulder. "What happened to me?"_

_Rose didn't want to lie. She drew back from him and cupped his cheek with her hand carefully. "You've been very sick. An evil monster attacked you and hurt you."_

_"The Saeculornex."_

_"The what?"_

_"Saeculornex." _

_Rose stared at the child for a moment. He was vacant..._

_"Doctor, how do we get rid of them?" she asked quickly, knowing she only had seconds before the Doctor disappeared again..._


	8. Caal'on'e'i'ot Ce

Chapter 8 - Caal'on'e'i'ot Ce

Nothing remotely interesting happened for two days – the boy Doctor was still in a coma and the creature had not returned for a second attempt. The amount of people being de-aged around the world continued to climb, but at least there had been no deaths. Yet.

Rose was on Doctor-watching duty when she suddenly heard movement from the bed and she looked sharply up to find the boy Doctor staring at her, hugging the teddy she had given him close to his chest.

"Rose, can I play?" he asked, his voice muffled behind the oxygen mask.

Rose's relief was matched only by her amusement as her mouth turned up into an instant smile, moving forward to hold him.

"Maybe later, how are you feeling?"

"Okay," he said into her shoulder. "What happened to me?"

Rose didn't want to lie. She drew back from him and cupped his cheek with her hand carefully. "You've been very sick. An evil monster attacked you and hurt you."

"The Saeculornex."

"The what?"

"Saeculornex."

Rose stared at the child for a moment. He was vacant...

"Doctor, how do we get rid of them?" she asked quickly, knowing she only had seconds before the Doctor disappeared again...

"Eploxna," he whispered, staring right through her. "Saeculornex... death of age... timeloop..."

"Doctor!" she practically yelled at the child, utterly frustrated. "How do we get you back? How do we stop them?"

"Reverse..." he croaked. "Make... reverse..."

He blinked, focusing on her face once more. "I need the toilet," he said smally.

Rose tried to hide her disappointment, kissing him on the forehead. "Hold on a sec, I'll get you a bedpan."

"Now!" he urged, crossing his legs and scrunching up his face, making Rose jump to her feet in a hurry. As it transpired she couldn't actually find a bedpan in the Infirmary so, telling him to hold on again she rushed out of the Infirmary to the supply room.

The boy Doctor looked around the room with mild interest, scanning his surroundings. His eyes focused on the table of medicines just across the room...

_There. That. Get up._

His expression was blank again as he swiftly disconnected himself from all the machines without really thinking about what he was doing. He climbed over the siderail and dropped down onto the floor – his legs were so weak he was sure he was about to fall over.

_You'll be okay. Just relax. Let me take control and I can hold you up._

"Who are you?" the boy wondered, but his own voice seemed so distant and slurred as he began to walk over to the medicine table on apparent auto-pilot.

_The Doctor._

"People keep calling me that," the child said, finding his arms reaching up to the phials and bottles of medicines, completely at ease with chemistry."Are you bad?"

_No. Caal'on'e'i'ot ce._ _Now just relax. I don't have long._

"I'm sleepy," the boy said as his hands continued to move across all of the tubes and substances, making up a dark yellow sludge-like substance in a single phial.

_I know. Just a little longer._

It was only about ten seconds before it was ready. He plugged the phial of yellow liquid with a stop and laid it gently behind a rack, just out of sight.

"Doctor?" suddenly came a voice from behind him. He blinked, startled as he whirled around to find Rose standing behind him holding a bedpan, looking anxious. Had she been standing there the whole time? All the strength in his legs suddenly dissipated and when he opened his eyes he found himself lying in his bed reconnected to all the wires, staring up at Rose, Jack and Jackie having a conversation between themselves, paying him no attention.

"He fainted," a distant voice was saying.

"He shouldn't have been up."

"He was having a Doctor moment, he made this... I didn't want to stop him."

"What is that?"

"I don't know..."

The boy really wanted to tell them, because he had a feeling he knew. But he was too tired to explain.

* * *

The boy Doctor faded in and out of sleep all day in apparent stupor. His little adventure had evidently exhausted him and in turn had given Rose, Jack and Jackie a phial of yellow liquid to add to the ever-growing collection of Doctor-made devices, along with tracker. He kept mentioning Eploxna, reverse, and a timeloop. They now knew the creatures were called the Saeculornex and they shifted their matter to become 'invisible', feeding off of people's ages by first sedating them and then drawing out what they needed with their fangs in the middle of the night. They could be somewhat fended off with sonic waves and, from what they'd seen, didn't come back for a second attempt if they failed on the first.

Yet still they were no closer to figuring out what the hell they were supposed to do about it.

The next morning the little Doctor woke up, wanting to get out of bed. Jack took him on a short walk around the Infirmary but his legs were still weak and could only take him a little way, so Jack fetched his toys and they played with them on the covers for a few hours until he fell asleep again.

Jackie lavished the boy in 'Get Well' presents – it was evident that although she and the grown Doctor had never really seen eye-to-eye, this pint-sized version of the same man had Jackie wrapped around his little finger as Rose kept seeing her whizzing frantically between the Kitchen and the Infirmary with refills of banana milkshake.

Another night went by and morning came, but the child Doctor looked a lot better than he had before, so Jackie and Rose dressed him and took him outside to the park for some fresh air. He played with his football for a bit but was very quickly exhausted, lying back down on the grass and staring at the clouds in the mid-morning sky.

"Rose, Jackie," he began as they sat down next to him cross-legged on the grass. "Have you beened to Gallifrey?"

"No, love," Jackie replied as the little Doctor shifted his head to lay on Rose's lap.

"I'll take you there," he said. "Humans aren't allowed but I'll sneak you in!"

"I'll look forward to it," Rose said, laughing.

"I'm sleepy," he suddenly said, turning over to curl up with his head on Rose's lap. "Don't like being sick. When will I be better?"

"Very, very soon," Rose assured him, picking him up as she got to her feet. "Bed for you."

They took him back to bed. He slept instantly, curled up under the covers clutching the teddy. Jackie sighed, brushing back his unruly hair from his eyes.

"Poor thing," she said. "I 'ope he does get better soon."

* * *

It was a few days until he was back to robust health. After a morning bath and something to eat he was running circles around Jack, tugging on his coat sleeve and dragging him everywhere around the Tyler's flat to play. The Doctor side of him hadn't returned since the incident in the Infirmary and as every day ticked by Rose and Jack were beginning to wonder more and more if he ever _would _come back.

It was a bright sunny morning three weeks after the Doctor had been de-aged that there was the sound of a commotion outside the Tyler flat. As the boy Doctor played with his toy cars Jack and Rose could quite clearly hear the sound of helicopters and cars roaming around outside.

"Police raid," Jackie informed them as she brought the little Doctor his latest banana milkshake. He took it greedily and gulped it down before looking up at Jackie and grinning.

"Thank you," he said before resuming gulping it down again.

"They found Jimmy Stone's weed garden?" Rose wondered, trying to stop the boy Doctor from drinking too quickly and drowning in banana milkshake. But before Jackie had the chance to answer the front door suddenly flew open and armed soldiers poured into the flat, startling the group sat in the middle of the living room. The soldiers assumed offensive positions, their guns trained on the four people in the flat. They recognised those red hats. This was UNIT...

Jack quickly grabbed the boy Doctor and shielded him with his own body, watching as the woman whom he recognised to have been the one previously at the front door stepped forward, her arms folded.

"I am Captain Harcombe representing the Unified Intelligence Taskforce. We are here to escort the Doctor off of these premises to a secure UNIT base for questioning."

Rose got to her feet, somehow unfazed by the multitude of guns pointing at her head. "The Doctor isn't here," she said strongly. "You know that."

In reply, Captain Harcombe simply raised her finger and pointed directly at the boy Doctor cowering behind Jack. "This child is now property of UNIT. Hand him over."

"That's not the Doctor!" Rose insisted. "He's been de-aged to a time before he was, he doesn't know what's goin' on!"

"Nevertheless, he has valuable information that we can use to defeat this alien threat."

"He's just a child!" Rose yelled, frustrated. "He's no use to you! He doesn't know anythin'!"

Captain Harcombe didn't waver. "Hand him over."

"No," Rose said firmly, standing her ground.

Captain Harcombe didn't waste any time. She made one clear signal with her hand and suddenly the UNIT soldiers advanced on the group within seconds.

"No!" Rose cried out as she and her mother were swiftly restrained, struggling pointlessly whilst watching the soldiers swarm over Jack and the little Doctor. Jack struggled for what it was worth, throwing out a few punches as he clung for dear life onto the child who was crying in his arms. But the efforts were useless. Within moments UNIT had a hold of the boy Doctor and Jack was pinned to the ground, still struggling. Jack, Rose and Jackie could only watch as the boy Doctor was carried back across the living room to the front door.

"Jack! Rose! Jackie!" he cried, tears pouring down his face. "You said forever!"

Rose could feel her heart break in two as the UNIT soldiers let go of the three adults and followed their group out the door, taking the little Doctor with them.

* * *

Caal'on'e'i'ot ce – We are one

* * *

**A/N: **I love all my reviews, I get all broken up and my inspiration dies when I think no one's reading so every review counts, even just one word reviews like, "yay!" I'm determined to review reply this chapter because I never do it and I don't want y'all to feel neglected! :o So if you've got any questions about anything; this fic or my fanfiction or just fanfiction or David or Doctor Who or just life in general, then fire away now! :)

_Chapter 9 – I Spy..._

_"Doctor, we are not going to hurt you, and would really appreciate your co-operation..."_

_The boy drew his fingers back out of his mouth, but they were now covered in saliva. He stared at his hand and pulled a face, wiping his fingers on his trousers._

_"Ma'am," the soldier she had sent for the translator returned, complete with the handheld device. She nodded._

_"Doctor," she tried once more. "If you could just give us some information..."_

_"Eonha'o ce wiia kua," the boy said, staring at her._

_"What did he say?" Captain Harcombe urged the soldier._

_"Err..." He looked surprised as the results came through. "He said you have a big nose."_


	9. I Spy

**A/N: **Review reply for everyone! :D Although it probably was a bit anticlimatic after all this time.

* * *

Chapter 9 – I Spy...

The boy Doctor hadn't said a word since the UNIT soldiers had packed him in a black van and driven him to their base. He was aware of everyone staring at him every inch of the way so he just pulled faces back until they stopped.

After quite a short journey he was lifted out of the van and escorted into a giant white building by several armed guards, along some corridors into a hall with heavy metal doors spaced periodically down either side. He was carried into one and placed down on a dreary-looking bed shoved into the corner of a plain white room, within a metre of a dirty sink and a toilet that was badly stained. The guards left, locking the door behind them.

For a moment he just sat in silence, making noises with his mouth as he stared at the far wall.

"Bored!" he suddenly yelled, jumping down off of the bed and over to the door. He grasped the edge and tried to pull it, but it was bolted on the other side.

Sighing, he pulled back and sat cross-legged on the floor, clicking his tongue.

"_Don't be afraid."_

The boy looked up sharply, surprised to find a man sitting on the cell floor with him who had definitely not been there before. He was skinny with deep brown eyes and messy brown hair, and a brown suit with a tie and a long heavy brown coat that trailed along the floor.

"_These people are nice people," _he said, offering a smile._ "They've just got the wrong end of the stick."_

"Where are Jack, Rose and Jackie?" the boy wondered, accepting this new man instantly.

"_They're on their way to get you. Just stick it out."_

The boy paused, gazing around the cell for a moment. "It's icky in here."

"_Yeah. Don't touch anything."_

"Why do they keep calling me Doctor?"

"_Because you are the Doctor."_

"No I'm not," the boy protested. "You are."

"_You will be me."_

"What d'you mean?" the boy asked, genuinely confused. The man in the room with him lost no hint of his patience.

"_I'm your future self."_

"Are you a Time Lord?" the child Doctor asked eagerly.

"_Yes, I am."_

"Wow!" the boy exclaimed, grinning from ear-to-ear. "You weren't there before," he observed.

"_No. I'm only in your mind."_

"But how comes I can see you?"

The man shrugged nonchalantly. _"Oh, just basic telepathic projection. I'm not really here. I'm in your mind's eye."_

"Oh, right," the boy said, like he had completely understood that. "I'm bored."

"_So am I," _the Doctor agreed. _"D'you wanna play a game?"_

The boy suddenly perked up. "Yeah!"

"_How about... I Spy?" _He suddenly paused, looking around the cell before pulling a face. _"Maybe not."_

"No, no, let's," the boy said eagerly, gazing around the room. "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with... err... err... err! D."

"_Door?"_

"Yeah!" The boy looked surprised. "How'd you know?"

"_Because you were staring at it."_

"Oh," the boy said, resigned. "Your turn!"

"_I spy with my little eye, something beginning with... D."_

"Door?"

The Doctor laughed. _"No."_

"Err... dirt."

"_No."_

"Umm..." the boy looked around the room for any clue. "Drainpipes!" he finally yelled, pointing at the wall.

"_No."_

"I give up. What is it?"

"_Dust."_

The boy stared at him. "You can't see dust! That's stupid! You're rubbish."

The Doctor laughed again. _"Okay, you win that one. Your turn."_

The boy looked around the room again, making a point of staring at everything for extended periods of time.

"I spy with my little eye something beginning with D!"

The Doctor rolled his eyes. _"Door?"_

"No."

"_Dirt."_

"No."

"_Dust."_

"No."

"_Drainpipes."_

"No."

"_Err... I don't know. I give up."_

"Doctor!" the boy yelled triumphantly, pointing at the man sitting in front of him.

"_Oh!" _the Doctor exclaimed, grinning. _"You're good at this."_

"Or you're rubbish," the boy said ruefully. "Your turn!"

"_I spy with..."_

Suddenly there was the sound of echoing footsteps from the corridor outside the door.

"_They're back."_

"Don't leave me," the boy suddenly said quietly, staring at the Doctor with tears in his eyes.

"_I won't. Caal'on'e'i'ot ce." _Then the Doctor was gone.

The boy looked back at the door as someone began to unbolt it. He got to his feet, backing away as it open outwards to reveal Captain Harcombe accompanied by a few guards and a couple of men that looked extremely important.

"Sorry for the wait, Doctor," Captain Harcombe said apologetically. "If you'd like to come with us."

He was going to be brave, the boy Doctor decided. He made forwards towards her, following the group out of the cell and down a length of corridors, up some steps into a modern-looking interior where tens of people were stand at computer terminals, constantly talking and hammering their keyboards. He was led through the rows of people to a small room adjoining it, separated from the action by a pane of glass.

In the room was a metal table with a chair on either side. He was lifted by one of the soldiers and placed on one of the chairs, but he could barely see over the table. Captain Harcombe took the seat on the other side, still flanked by soldiers and the two very important men.

"Doctor," she began, staring at the boy. "I'm sure you're aware of the situation?"

The boy stared at her, shoving his fingers into his mouth and sucking on them. Captain Harcombe blinked slightly, evidently confused.

"Doctor?" she repeated. "The situation is very serious and we need your help."

He continued to suck on his fingers, staring at her in the way which meant he was about to say something incredibly rude. She tried again.

"Doctor, can you understand me?"

He replied with one deft nod, kicking his heels against the chair legs as he continued to suck on his fingers.

"Are you unable to answer?"

"E'i hia?" the boy asked.

Captain Harcombe blinked again. "Can you speak English?"

"Je?"

"Get the translation software," she said to one of the guards, who nodded and slipped out of the glass door. She turned back to the child.

"You understand English but you can't speak it?" she asked. The boy just shrugged, his eyes wandering around the room at the people within.

"Doctor, we are not going to hurt you, and would really appreciate your co-operation..."

The boy drew his fingers back out of his mouth, but they were now covered in saliva. He stared at his hand and pulled a face, wiping his fingers on his trousers.

"Ma'am," the soldier she had sent for the translator returned, complete with the handheld device. She nodded.

"Doctor," she tried once more. "If you could just give us some information..."

"Eonha'o ce wiia kua," the boy said, staring at her.

"What did he say?" Captain Harcombe urged the soldier.

"Err..." He looked surprised as the results came through. "He said you have a big nose."

Captain Harcombe frowned. "Is there something wrong with that thing?"

"No fault," the soldier insisted, trying to hide his snigger.

Captain Harcombe fobbed it off, looking back at the Doctor. "Doctor, if we don't get any answers from you soon..."

"E'i ha'o'ce jupou'el didilio, naqu?" he asked, looking hopeful.

"He... asked if he can have a banana milkshake," the soldier said quietly, still struggling not to laugh.

"Are you thirsty, Doctor?" Captain Harcombe persisted, determined to break this difficult subject. The boy nodded, beaming from ear-to-ear. She turned to another soldier. "Fetch him some water."

"Fo!" the boy yelled, suddenly agitated. "Jupou'el didilo!"

"He said he'd rather have a banana milkshake," the soldier translated.

"Water!" Captain Harcombe insisted to the waiting soldier, who was looking slightly bemused.

"Fo! Fo! Fo!"

"No, no, no..." the soldier translated.

"Jupou'el didilo!"

"Banana milkshake..."

"E wei ce jupou'el didilo!"

"I want a banana milkshake..."

Suddenly the boy jumped out of his chair and began stomping his feet angrily. "Jupou'el didilo!"

"Banana milkshake..."

"E'el min eon!"

"I don't like you..."

"E'el wei ce koako lopai!"

"I don't want lousy water..."

"E nima eon!"

"I hate you..."

"Eonha'o ce wiia kua!"

"You have a big nose..."

"Is he having a tantrum?" Captain Harcombe asked, staring at the stomping child before her.

"Yeah, he's having a tantrum," the soldier translating said. "With respect, ma'am, you've never had children, have you?"

Captain Harcombe didn't answer this, looking back at the boy jumping up and down, yelling angrily.

"Someone hug him or something!" she yelled, but she didn't need to as moments later the door opened and another soldier arrived, escorting a young blonde woman at gunpoint.

"Found her trying to break in," the soldier holding the woman informed the Captain but the boy suddenly stopped, looking up at the woman with a beaming smile.

"Liala!" he yelled, running forward to hug her leg tightly.

"Hello to you too," Rose said, smiling as she dropped to her knees and hugged him tightly. "Are you havin' fun?"

"They won't gimme a banana milkshake!" he said like it was the biggest crime in the world. Rose laughed, kissing his forehead.

"We got loads, you can have all you want when we get home," she assured him. He grinned back.

"I love you," the boy Doctor said, still hugging her tightly.

"I love you too," Rose replied, looking up at the Captain above her, who wasn't looking too happy. "Now do you believe me?"

The Captain looked slightly resigned. "Perhaps we'll have to change to Plan B." She turned to one of the well-dressed men standing behind her. "Inform all units, we're activating Plan B."

Rose tensed, still holding the child tightly. "What's Plan B?"

"I don't believe that is any concern of the public," the Captain said, obviously trying to re-establish some kind of discipline and respect from her soldiers.

"Hey," Rose started angrily. "I'm not a member of the public, I'm one of his guardians and if it has anythin' to do with him then I have the right to know."

Captain Harcombe sighed. "We have created a device that stimulates the growth hormones. If the Doctor can't help us as a child then we will make him an adult," she said simply as people began to leave the room.

Rose's eyes widened. "What? Have you even tested this thing?"

"It is still in its prototype, but this is a desperate situation," the Captain continued. "I'm not sure you understand just how serious, Miss Tyler. It is calibrated to age him to an adult, and then he can help us."

"I don't care how serious it is! It could kill him!" Rose yelled angrily, still holding the boy Doctor tight. "He's not even human! You haven't calibrated for _that_, have you?"

"Doctor, come with me," the Captain said, holding out her hand to the boy. He buried his head further into Rose's shoulder, shying away.

"I won't let you do this!"

"I don't believe you have a choice, Miss Tyler," the Captain said as the boy Doctor was dragged away from Rose's clutch, carried by a UNIT soldier. "We will take good care of him." She looked to the soldier restraining Rose. "Take her to a cell so she can't interfere."

"Yes, ma'am," the soldier nodded, and began dragging Rose towards the door, further and further away from the boy struggling in the guard's grip.

They passed through the door, and the soldier let go of her, drawing off his helmet to reveal it was Jack.

"Hide back here," Jack urged, pulling them both into an indent in the wall. They sat in silence, waiting until the crowd of soldiers and the Captain came out of the doorway, carrying the struggling child who was making it as difficult as possible for them. They disappeared down the corridor.

"Follow them," Rose said, already getting up and running after the group, hoping to God she would be able to stop them.

* * *

E'i hia?– Can I play?

Je? - What?

Eonha'o ce wiia kua – You have a big nose

E'i ha'o'ce jupou'el didilio, naqu? - Can I have a banana milkshake, please?

Fo! - No!

Jupou'el didilio – Banana milkshake

* * *

**A/N: **_Chapter 10 – Hello, Thete!_

_"Agh... my head..."_

_Thete's vision was blurred, fading in and out of focus as he struggled to lift his head from where he lay on what felt like a comfortable bed. He blinked a few times, trying to straighten his vision but everything remained resolutely blurred. His head continued to throb through his instant rush of thoughts. Where was he? Last thing he remembered... He had been in the Academy, with Koschei, about to play a prank on Borusa... Then he'd woken up here._


	10. Hello, Thete!

**A/N: **I haven't seen much of the Brigadier, and the stuff I _have _seen I've generally forgotten. Therefore the Brigadier is made with 1/2 part memory, two parts guessing, one part assumation, three parts guidance from a Classic Who fan and four parts vintage red wine. Stir until fine. Best until 10/07/10.

* * *

Chapter 10 – Hello, Thete!

Rose and Jack followed the group down into what felt like the underground. The doors and walls continued to be pristine high-tech, but they got through them with ease. Eventually the group turned off into a small adjoining room guarded by a handprint mechanism, and they already knew they wouldn't be able to get any further.

There was a window in the wall between the room and the corridor, so Jack and Rose peeked over the side to the room within. The room was utterly soundproof, but they could quite clearly see the boy Doctor sitting on a metal table in the centre of the room, gazing around at the multitude of machines around him in fascination. He was even pointing at all of the machines and evidently talking loudly, informing the UNIT employees of his knowledge about Earth technology.

But pretty soon after the machines were fired up and ready to go they inserted a needle into his arm and pressed down. He slowly slipped into a peaceful sleep, his eyes closing as the UNIT soldiers laid him gently back down on the table and began wiring him in.

Rose ducked back down, dragging Jack with her. "Jack! We need to stop this!" she practically yelled in his face. "He's goin' to die!"

"We'll think of something!" Jack insisted, peering through the window again. They were counting down, the child Doctor wired in...

"Jack!" Rose yelled again in absolute hysteria. "DO SOMETHING!"

But it was too late as the lever was pulled and suddenly the window was aglow with bright blue light. Rose screamed, jumping to her feet and hammering frantically on the glass that separated her from the little Doctor. But she couldn't do anything. She couldn't even see the boy.

She could feel the tears rolling down her face as she stared into the bright blue light, lost in her grief. She nearly missed the sudden shrill beeping from inside the room – something had gone wrong. Just like she knew it would. UNIT had killed him. They'd killed the Doctor...

Suddenly the blue light went out. It took a few moments for Rose's eyes to adjust but then she could see the multitudes of scientists frantically running around, checking vitals and turning off machines. She peered through the crowded room to where the Doctor lay, but she could barely see him...

The door of the room flew open. Rose wasted no time. She pushed roughly past the people in the doorway into the room itself, trying in vain to get to the Doctor. Hands tried to grab at her, pull her back, but she was a woman on a mission. She wrenched free of their grasps, finally emerging where the Doctor lay on the metal table, unconscious.

He was taller and his features more defined. There was slight stubble on his chin and if Rose didn't know better she would say he'd been aged to a teenager, about 16-19 years old in a human. But this was all she got to see as she was roughly grabbed and pulled away to come face-to-face with Captain Harcombe, who looked nothing short of incredibly annoyed. She didn't say anything, just gestured to the guards holding Rose to drag her back out of the door.

Rose kicked out, screaming and struggling for all it was worth.

"I want to see him!" she yelled, but they were ignoring her. The entire room was alive with noise of both human and machine so they could barely hear her protests anyway.

"What the devil is going on in here?" suddenly came a deep voice from the doorway and Rose watched, astounded as everyone instantaneously fell absolutely silent and froze on the spot as though they'd just been suspended in time.

A large man with perfectly white hair and a neatly trimmed beard strode into the room as though he owned the place, and judging by the looks on everyone's faces, Rose assumed he did. For a moment there was only silence.

"Well?" the man demanded. "Captain Harcombe, what the blazes kind of operation are you running here?"

Rose watched as the Captain snapped a salute instantly. "Sir, you told us to find the Doctor, we did, but he'd been de-aged so we put him in the prototype and..."

The man huffed, looking very annoyed. "Let me see."

The crowd parted very quickly to allow the man through to the table. For a moment he gazed down at the teenage boy lying unconscious on the surface, frowning slightly before he turned back to the Captain.

"And this is the Doctor?" he asked, pointing at the boy.

"Yes, Sir," the Captain said quickly.

"And who are you, young lady?" the man asked Rose directly, offering a smile that reminded Rose of her granddad.

"I'm the Doctor's friend and what you're doin' here is wrong!" Rose replied strongly, feeling quite brave in the situation. "He could've died! He still could! And you let them do this to him!"

"Let me assure you young lady, I never allowed any of this," the man said, extending a hand for her to shake. "I am General Sir Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart. But please, call me Alistair. And between you and me, I preferred it when I was a Brigadier."

Rose was quite surprised by his friendly demeanour. "I... I'm Rose." She shook his hand.

"Splendid to meet you, Rose," he said, smiling. He looked up to the guards restraining her. "Now, I don't think that's called for, do you? Let her go. She's my responsibility from now on."

"Yes, Sir!" Both of the soldier chimed together, letting Rose go. Rose smiled gratefully at him, and he smiled back.

"Are you his only companion at the moment?" Sir Alistair asked.

Rose shook her head, looking around the room. "Jack?"

One of the soldiers stepped forward, drawing the helmet off his head and dropping it to the floor.

"Ah!" Sir Alistair exclaimed. "Young strong man. If you'd be so kind as to pick up the Doctor? My back isn't what it used to be."

"Of course," Jack said, grinning as he moved over to the teenage Doctor and slipped his arms beneath him, lifting him up.

"We'll take him back to my quarters to recover," Sir Alastair said, beckoning Rose and Jack to follow him out the door. He stopped in front of Captain Harcombe, looking down at her with piercing eyes through his obvious height advantage.

"Alice, if he is anything short of a mentally and physically healthy teenage boy then it will be your head on a platter."

A nuance of fear flashed through the Captain's eyes. "Yes, sir."

"Very good," he said, and then left the room with Rose and Jack in tow. He pointed down the hall. "This way."

* * *

"Agh... my head..."

Thete's vision was blurred, fading in and out of focus as he struggled to lift his head from where he lay on what felt like a comfortable bed. He blinked a few times, trying to straighten his vision but everything remained resolutely blurred. His head continued to throb through his instant rush of thoughts. Where was he? Last thing he remembered... He had been in the Academy, with Koschei, about to play a prank on Borusa... Then he'd woken up here.

He gazed around the room, one hand on his impolitely throbbing head. It was large, well-kept, personal but practical. Framed photos littered the room, as well as a desk in the corner of the room, neat piles of paper stacked. He didn't recognise the room.

Had he hit his head? It felt like it. He looked down at himself, but he was only wearing a pair of white shorts. Maybe he was in hospital. That made sense. Though he was sure Hospitals were slightly more... electronic than this... And it looked nothing like a Hospital on Gallifrey.

It took a few minutes for him to summon the courage to stand up. He moved over to the desk, looking through the papers. They were all black typeface official statements of some kind, but all of them bore the same emblem on the top-right. UNIT. He had been in UNIT before, hadn't he? But being in UNIT was years ago... though somehow it only felt like hours ago.

Dismissing it, he moved next over to the wooden door, trying to pull it open. But it was locked.

Okay. Maybe this was a prison. Or a temporary holding for prisoners. Or something. What had he done this time? The prank had gone wrong?

Either way, he didn't know why he was here, he couldn't remember doing anything wrong. He began to hammer on the door.

"Hey! Anyone!" he yelled. "Lemme out!"

Suddenly the lock of the door clicked. He backed away, but was determined to stand his ground. The door opened and there stood a guard, but it was unlike any guard he'd seen before. This one was fully clad in black armour with a red beret, wielding a very basic gun.

"Ok, this isn't Gallifrey," he said out loud to the man standing before him. "Tell me what I'm doing here 'cause when my Dad gets here he's gonna kick your ass!"

"Doctor, do you recognise me?" the guard asked. Thete did a double-take, staring at the man's face.

"Jack?" He wasn't sure where he got the name from, but it seemed right. And by instinct he trusted this man.

Jack spread a smile, turning to address someone behind him. "He remembers us!"

Before Thete had a chance to interrupt in the doorway stepped a young blonde woman as tall as he was, who smiled when she saw him.

"You're okay!" she said, moving forward to hug him tightly. He didn't resist. Rose? That name seemed to fit. After a moment she pulled back, pulling off her coat and wrapping him in it.

"Can you tell me what the hell's going on?" Thete asked them both seriously. They glanced at each other before Rose took his hand and led him back to sit on the bed, taking a seat next to him as Jack pulled up a chair in front of him.

"What do you remember?" Jack asked.

The teen boy frowned, closing his eyes. "I was in the Academy... with Koschei. We were gonna play a prank on Borusa... Then I woke up here."

Jack and Rose looked at each other. "You hit your head quite badly," Rose said quickly.

"Feels like it," he muttered, rubbing head head slightly. "Is this Sol 3?"

"What?"

"Earth? Is this Earth?"

"Yeah, it is," Rose replied, nodding. "We're in UNIT. Remember?"

"Sorta," he muttered in reply, still frowning. "None of this makes any sense. How did I get here?"

But thankfully Rose and Jack were saved by the door opening once again to reveal the Brigadier, sauntering in and stopping by the bed to gaze down at the boy.

For a moment Rose thought she saw some recognition in his eyes, but it was gone in a flash as he stared up at the man bearing down on him.

"Doctor," the man said, extending a hand for him to shake. "Good to see you after all these years."

"I'm Theta, but call me Thete," Thete said, but shook the proffered hand anyway. "Sorry, but who are you?"

There was a long pause as Jack and Rose both died a little inside. The Brigadier had told them about meeting the Doctor a long time before either of them had, even before Sarah Jane had. If the teenage Doctor didn't even remember the Brigadier they were in serious trouble...

"Well, I'm Sir Alistair, the Brigadier, and you will know me soon," he said simply.

"Ok, wait, stop," Thete said suddenly, hands in the air. "None of this is right. Tell me how I got here."

"You were always here, you just hit your head and you're a bit confused," Rose said gently.

"Don't lie to me, I'm not an idiot," Thete said rudely, rising to his feet to stare at them all with narrowed eyes. "Tell me what's going on right now."

There was a moment's silence between the three humans, all looking at each other in uncertainty.

Thete sighed. "Something's happened to me, right?" he persisted. "My memories have been messed with? I'm not a Time Lord yet but I should be able to feel the others. And I can't. Where are the Time Lords? Why am I on Sol 3? Brigadier, you said I would know you. Like, in the future. And you Jack, you're completely wrong." He gestured at the man in question who frowned. "Something bad has happened to me and you think I'm just a kid and I can't handle it. In human terms I'm nearly as physically old as you are, Rose," he pointed out, quite validly. "Mentally I'm a bit more. Now tell me what the hell has happened to me!"

Rose sighed, looking up at him sadly. "It's a long story."

"I'm not pushed for time."

"Are you sure?"

"Very sure," Thete replied, nodding. Rose gestured for him to sit down beside her, taking his hand into her own and squeezing it reassuringly before she began to tell him everything.

* * *

**A/N: **Teen Doc. I could fantisise about that D:

_Chapter 11 – So Close Yet So Far_

_"He's been leaving us clues, like the tracker and yellow liquid, and saying things like Eploxna, midday, market and timeloop. We don't know what we're supposed to do."_

_Thete considered her for a moment, running hand through his hair in the way that the Doctor had always done. "Isn't it obvious?" he finally asked._

_Jack and Rose looked at each other. "Is it?" Rose asked, confused._


	11. So Close Yet So Far

**A/N: **Thank you all so much for the kind comments, I was shatting myself about the Brigadier being in character... but you can't have UNIT without the Brigadier, can you? :P

* * *

Chapter 11 – So Close Yet So Far

Thete listened intently to the story in silence, his eyebrows progressively getting higher and higher into his hairline. As a result Rose wasn't sure if he was actually believing her or not.

"He's been leaving us clues, like the tracker and yellow liquid, and saying things like Eploxna, midday, market and timeloop. We don't know what we're supposed to do."

Thete considered her for a moment, running hand through his hair in the way that the Doctor had always done. "Isn't it obvious?" he finally asked.

Jack and Rose looked at each other. "Is it?" Rose asked, confused.

"Where were you just before you got back to Earth?" Thete asked.

"Eploxna..." Jack began, but Thete swiftly cut him off.

"In the market? At midday?"

Jack and Rose both nodded.

"He said timeloop!" Thete finished, like the answer was obvious.

Jack and Rose shared another glance. "And...?" Jack ventured.

Thete sighed, rolling his eyes. "He's trying to lay a path for you. He's telling you to make a timeloop by going back to Exploxna market at midday and talking to him."

Rose's jaw was agape. "So that's what we do? We save the Doctor by talking to the Doctor?"

"Yup," Thete replied, popping the p. "Rassilon, humans are slow..." he muttered, before suddenly looking up at the three humans staring back at him. "Oh, er, sorry. Not you guys."

"So you know how to fly the TARDIS?" Jack asked quickly. "To make this timeloop?"

Thete pulled a face. "Err... not as such."

"Then what the hell are we gonna do?"

"I think I might..." Thete paused, frowning. "I think I can make this work. But I need to go back to the TARDIS."

Rose turned to the Brigadier, who had remained completely silent throughout the exchange looking extremely thoughtful. "Can you get us out of UNIT?"

"That will be no problem," the Brigadier said, nodding. "Follow me."

* * *

Captain Harcombe was scowling at them as the Brigadier led Jack, Rose and Thete straight out of UNIT's front doors into the car park. The Brigadier led them through the multitudes of parked cars until they reached a jeep.

"One of UNIT's jeeps," the Brigadier explained, handing Jack the keys. "Good luck on your endeavour, all if you. Britain is relying on you. And Doctor." He turned to Thete, who was still only half dressed, huddled in Rose's coat. "I hope to see you in another life."

"You too," Thete replied, shaking his hand.

"If there is anything I can do please don't hesitate to contact me."

"Thank you for everything," Rose said, smiling. "We'll sort this out."

"I have no doubt you will," the Brigadier replied as the three climbed into the jeep, setting back towards the Powell Estate.

* * *

The moment Jackie Tyler saw the teenager standing in her flat hallway she swept him up into a tight hug, planting loving kisses all over his face, seemingly not caring in his age difference since she'd last seen him.

"You're okay!" she said happily as Thete desperately tried to escape her death grip, but to no avail. "My how you've grown!"

"So I've heard," Thete muttered as Jackie finally let go, panning him up and down.

"Oh look at you, you must be hungry and tired, and we need to get you some clothes," she said, taking his hand and leading him into the sitting room. Thete gave a look over his shoulder to Rose and Jack that quite plainly said, "help me!"

They both sniggered, following Jackie and Thete into the sitting room before Jackie rushed off to busy herself with making dinner.

Thete looked at Jack and Rose, scratching behind his ear. "Is she always like that?"

They both just laughed.

* * *

Thete was far too tired after dinner to start on trying to make the TARDIS work, so they decided it would be better if they waited till morning. But still they went down to the TARDIS wardrobe to try and find him some clothes since he was still walking around barefoot and bare-chested in white shorts.

After much deliberation Thete chose a black shirt much in the style his older self would've chosen, a pair of baggy blue jeans and some red converse. He had to go into the older Doctor's bedroom in the TARDIS to get a pair of boxers and some socks.

He just finished tying up his shoelaces when there was a knock on the door and he called for them to enter. It was Rose, smiling at him.

"Me and Jack are gonna head back to the flat and watch some TV."

"Okay," he nodded. "Be right there."

Rose made to leave, but then suddenly a thought struck Thete. "Hey, wait, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Rose replied, taking a seat next to him on the bed.

"So travelling in space, it's just me, you and Jack?"

She nodded.

"No relationships...?" he ventured.

Rose shook her head. "Nope, we're just friends."

"So you and Jack aren't together?"

Rose laughed. "No."

"And you and I aren't together?"

There was an uncomfortable silence. Rose looked down, fiddling with the hem of her t-shirt. "Umm... no," she finally answered.

Thete grinned. "Why not? You love me... him."

Rose didn't answer, looking up at him uncomfortably.

"And I know I'm not exactly him, but..." He paused, gazing into her eyes. "I know he has feelings for you. Because I do."

Rose quickly shifted away, still staring at him. "This is wrong."

"How is it wrong?" he challenged.

"I feel like a pervert," Rose muttered, laughing hesitantly.

"I'm your age," he said simply. "There's nothing weird about it. What's weird is you think loving a 900-year-old man is fine but loving someone your own age makes you a pervert?"

"You're not him..."

"Yes I am. Maybe I'm not what you're used to but he is me. This is even the same body. The Saeculornex don't feed in a way that would take me back through my bodies, they don't have that capability. But the fact they can't do that is what makes me so tasty – I never lived through this age in this body so I taste different. It's a new, interesting flavour and I'm like their drug they just can't get enough of."

"You talk like him," Rose whispered.

"Because I am him," Thete said. "You're so beautiful and amazing and intelligent... I love you. And so does he. Why won't you let it happen?"

She took his hand. "It's not me, it's him. He won't. Because of what happened to him."

"What happened to him?"

Rose sighed, shaking her head. "He barely talks about it. I don't really know. But he's a bit... frigid."

Thete laughed. "Have you ever kissed him?"

"Not... properly."

"Do you want to?"

Rose swallowed. "I... If he remembers this he'll..."

He cut her off in mid-flow, leaning forward and pressing his lips to her's, kissing her deeply, but gently. Rose was a little shocked to say the least, managing to regain her senses after a few moments and to her own surprise she began to kiss back...

There was a knock on the door and they quickly drew away from each other before Jack entered, grinning.

"I thought you guys got lost," he said. "Come on."

Rose and Thete glanced at each other, before nodding and getting up to follow Jack out of the TARDIS to Jackie's flat.

* * *

**A/N:**_ Chapter 12 – Teenagers!_

_"Thete! Go and get dressed!"_

_"In a minute," he muttered._

_"How about now?"_

_"How about no?" _

_"Don't you dare talk back to me, young man!" Jackie said, slapping him around the head lightly. Thete cried out in surprised, hand on his head._

_"Okay woman, I'm going, I'm going!" he protested, leaving his tea on the table before quickly running into his room. Jack and Rose were laughing as Jackie sighed, folding her arms._

_"Teenagers!" she said simply, and disappeared back into the kitchen._


	12. Teenagers!

**A/N: **And now it's time for plot twist number... I've lost track :x

Jackie, for this chapter, is my Mum in written form.

* * *

Chapter 12 – Teenagers!

"Thete? Are you plannin' to get up today?"

Thete groaned and drew the pillow over his head, trying in vain to block out the shrill tones of Jackie Tyler at 11am on a Wednesday morning. Thete hoped to Rassilon she didn't come in to yank the covers off of him, but seconds later the door burst open and thudding footsteps marched over to the end of his bed.

"Do you realise the time?" she asked seriously, her voice muffled by the pillow. Thete just groaned in reply, hoping she would go away. "You have to get the TARDIS workin' today, right? You're not gonna do that by lyin' around in bed!"

Thete lifted up the pillow slightly to see Jackie standing at the end of his bed, hands on hips, quite annoyed. He pulled the pillow back over again.

"And just look at this room! It's a mess! Can't you fold up clothes and put them on the chair?"

Thete groaned again.

"Come on, Jack and Rose are waitin' for you!" The footsteps signalled her leaving the room, seconds later the door closing. Thete sighed, pulling the pillow back from his head and sitting up straight in bed. Yawning, he pulled back the covers and made a lunge for his trousers located where he'd dropped them on the floor last night, in amongst a lot of crisp packets, dirty plates and empty glasses he'd used to counter his energy deficit. He pulled the trousers on sleepily, yawning all the way before he stood up. His shirt wasn't anywhere that he could see, so he just shrugged and stumbled towards the door, vowing to find it later.

Jack and Rose were watching Ironside in the living room, looking up on his entry as he went through to the kitchen, his hand brushing back through his already chaotic hair.

"Hey, Thete," Jack said happily, and Thete grunted in reply, passing into the Kitchen. Jackie had already made him a cup of tea and some marmalade toast, lying in wait on the Kitchen table. She was wiping one of the counters, looking up on his entry.

"It lives!" she said sarcastically. "You're worse than Rose was, let me tell you."

Thete didn't seem to be inclined to answer her, so he just dropped down in the seat and began to wolf it all down, Jackie ranting at him continuously. He finished it quickly and rose from his seat with his half-finished cup of tea, trying to get out as soon as he could.

He dropped down on the sofa next to Rose in the living room, almost sloshing tea all over himself.

"She havin' a go at you?" Rose asked, grinning. He nodded, taking a sip. "Yeah, she does that."

"I 'eard that!" Jackie came into the sitting room. "Thete! Go and get dressed!"

"In a minute," he muttered.

"How about _now?"_

"How about _no?" _

"Don't you dare talk back to me, young man!" Jackie said, slapping him around the head lightly. Thete cried out in surprised, hand on his head.

"Okay woman, I'm going, I'm going!" he protested, leaving his tea on the table before quickly running into his room. Jack and Rose were laughing as Jackie sighed, folding her arms.

"Teenagers!" she said simply, and disappeared back into the kitchen.

It was twenty minutes before he re-emerged, this time fully dressed and looking slightly more alert. Jackie was busy cleaning the coffee table when he entered.

"What the hell were you doin' in there? Wanking?" Jackie snapped, evidently annoyed. Thete looked slightly disgusted and Rose and Jack couldn't help but laugh, getting onto their feet as Thete was already briskly walking towards the front door, making a quick escape.

Jack and Rose joined him on the balcony, shutting the front door behind them.

"I'm so sorry," Rose said, laughing. Thete just sighed, his hand clutched to his head. Rose frowned. "You all right?"

"Headache," he said, before shrugging it off and making down the balcony. Jack and Rose shared a nervous glance before following him down to the TARDIS.

* * *

"Okay, I've never done this before, but Irving showed me how," Thete was saying, hammering a few buttons on the TARDIS console and staring at the blue screen. His expression quickly turned into a frown as he twisted more dials. "I don't know what any of this means."

"What are you trying to do?" Jack asked.

"Create a control disc," he said, holding up a CD in the air. "It'll take us on a pre-programmed journey, and we need to go to Eploxna to meet my older self so he can sort out this mess. But it'll take me a few tries to get it right."

"Anything we can do to help?" Jack asked.

Thete shook his head, still hammering away at buttons. "Just go chill and watch a film or something."

Jack nodded. "Good luck."

Thete's headache got progressively worse and worse as he worked, trying to create the control disc but having failed seven times so far. By the time he was waiting for the sixteenth control disc to process his headache was throbbing quite severely behind his eyes. He dropped down into the pilot seat clutching at his head, willing it to go away.

The TARDIS asked him if she should alert Jack and Rose, but he told her no. He was so close to doing this, he needed just a little more time...

Finally the control disc ejected, shining with the familiar golden light. He needed to... needed to... scan... scan it...

But the pain in his head was too much. He collapsed to the floor with the golden disc still in his clutch, passing out.

The TARDIS made the alert for Jack and Rose, who very quickly ran into the console room to find the teenage Doctor unconscious on the grating, the disc still in his hand. Rose ran forward instantly to check him over.

"He okay?" Jack asked anxiously, dropping to his haunches next to Thete and Rose, taking the golden disc from Thete's unrelenting hand. She nodded, fingers resting on his pulse point.

"Just unconscious," she said. "Was this his headache? Is something happening to him? Did he get..."

She was cut off from saying anything else as suddenly across the console room there was a burst of light and the Doctor appeared before them in a shining blue hologram. He looked like he was in pain, hunched over with his teeth gritted, staring at them with sightless eyes.

"_Listen, Jack, Rose, my teenage self is having a severe delayed side effect of being forcedly aged, but he's created the right flight disc – it'll work . But whatever you do, don't..." _The hologram Doctor suddenly gasped in pain, trying to level out his breathing before he spoke again, _"don't insert the flight disk until my teenage self has been de-aged again. Then come to Eploxna to meet me when I'm little. Understand? Don't come to Eploxna unless I'm a kid. Sorry I can't tell you anymore, but I've gotta go. Good luck."_

The hologram disappeared.

"What?" Rose's eyes were wide, staring at Jack. "So we've gotta offer him up to that creature again?"

"Looks like it," Jack muttered. "And that could be anytime..."

"It won't be long," Rose said quickly. "He told me, he's its drug. It'll need its fix, it hasn't had it in a while. And now he's older it'll come for sure."

Jack paused, considering before he slipped his arms underneath the unconscious teenager and lifted him. "We need to take him back to the flat, try and leave him open to attack."

"I can't believe we're doing this," Rose muttered, getting up to follow him. "We're just serving him to it on a platter."

"The Doctor said it's what we need to do," Jack said firmly. "He knows what he's doing."

"Why was he hurt?" Rose asked next, question flying through her head at the thought of the hologram. "When did he even record that?"

" I don't know," Jack muttered. "But we've gotta trust him."

The rest of the journey to the flat was in total silence.

Jackie was near hysterical when she saw the state of Thete lying comatose in Jack's arms when they entered the flat a few minutes later.

"What 'appened?" she yelled more than asked. "Did 'e get shot with that stuff again?"

"No, Mum," Rose said, pulling her to one side to explain as Jack took Thete into the spare room, taking off his shirt, shoes and trousers and settling him down into bed. He pulled the tracker out of his pocket and checked the screen – but there was no red dot. Yet.

He re-entered the living room moments later, not surprised to find Jackie and Rose already locked in a shouting match.

"You can't let it do it again!" Jackie yelled, arms waving. "It hurts him!"

"Mum, we've got no choice!" Rose yelled back, her arms also waving in a desperate attempt to make her Mum see sense. "The Doctor told us to, we have to let it eat him! Jack! Tell her!"

The very last thing Jack wanted to do was get involved in the mother-daughter argument, so he just half nodded and backed away slowly.

"If he dies, Rose, it'll be your fault!" Jackie shoved past Jack to go into the spare room. Rose's face suddenly fell, looking at Jack.

"It will be my fault, won't it?" she whispered.

"No," he replied simply. "It's his fault for telling us to do it."

"But what if we've missed somethin'... What if there's another way?"

"There isn't, we would know," he assured her. "Come here." He held out his arms, and she gratefully fell into his hug of assurance. "He'll be fine."

* * *

**A/N: **_Chapter 13 – Eploxna, Market, Midday, Timeloop_

_"I'll be there in a minute!" he yelled, turning back to the hoodies. "I'm all yours," he said, throwing out his arms and grinning. "To beat me up. Or something. Am I right?"_

_They didn't answer. Both of the figures grabbed one of his arms each, pulling him forcedly back through the crowd in the other direction of Jack and Rose. The Doctor had the slight feeling this wasn't a good thing._

_"If it's okay I don't really feel like getting beaten up. Not today. Today's sunny."_

_They didn't answer him, continuing to pull him through the crowds to a small alley on the side. Okay, this was beating up territory._

_"Whatever I did, I'm sorry," he said, feeling slightly nervous now._


	13. Eploxna, Market, Midday, Timeloop

**A/N:** I hope everyone's done/doing great in their exams! :D I have none on my course. Woot! :P

* * *

Chapter 13 – Eploxna, Market, Midday, Timeloop

Thete had been in a constant stupor, fading in and out of consciousness for two days with no real grip on reality. As such they couldn't even tell him about what was going to happen. What they were going to _let _happen to him.

They only had to wait the two days until it came back. It didn't even bother sedating him this time; too eager to get its fix.

Rose sat as still as a stone in the living room, staring at the tracker with Jack. The red dot was advancing, ever closer towards the green.

"If we sit still, don't threaten it, it'll probably ignore us," Jack whispered. "Just let it take what it wants, then we can go to Eploxna."

The red dot got closer, and closer. Finally it stopped next to the green dot. Silent seconds passed. Suddenly there was a scream, a scream of pain from what could only be Thete as the creature began to take its feed behind the closed door of the spare room. Rose could hardly stop the tears from rolling down her face, pressing herself into Jack's chest as the creature continued to feed. It felt like years before the cries stopped, but the red dot remained next to the green. Finally it pulled away, and Jack kept a firm hold on Rose until the red dot fell off of the side of the screen.

Then Rose was up in a shot, running across the living room and into the spare room. She found the Doctor, little and pale, lying on the bed with his eyes closed.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered, dropping to sit down next to him, gathering him into a tight hug, sobbing quietly. "I'm so sorry. We had to..."

She kissed him on the forehead, brushing her hand back through his hair, rocking him back and forth. She held him for the rest of the night.

* * *

The Doctor, Rose and Jack were sauntering through the marketplace on Eploxna, milling with the alien crowds just as the clock struck midday on a tower high above them. Sellers were yelling their 'fantastic' deals hopefully to passer-bys.

"Young lady! Pretty lady!" a voice yelled from in front of them, waving frantically to Rose. She found it rude not to go over so she waved cheerily, grabbing both the Doctor and Jack's arms and yanking them over to the stool.

"My goodsh are rare and cheeep!" the green-skinned alien behind the stool was saying, holding up various pieces of alien artefacts to her.

Rose clicked her tongue, contemplating. "You got any precious jewels or something?"

"Thish rare!" he held up a crinkled shiny silver material, waving it in her face. "From zhe Planeet of Earth! Preciush stone!"

Rose blinked, turning to look at the Doctor. "Is that tin foil?"

He nodded. She looked back at the stool owner, hands on hips.

"Nice try, but I've got plenty of that. You got a necklace, or somethin'? A bracelet?"

"Thish for zhe pretty lady!" the stall owner held up a necklace, a pendant on the chain with a green jewel set in the centre.

Rose's mouth fell open. "That's pretty! How much?"

"100, cheap pricsh for yoo! Pretty lady!"

"Doctor?" Rose asked, looking at him. The Doctor sighed heavily, folding his arms and staring off into the distance. Rose elbowed him in the ribs. He jumped, wincing.

"Oh, what?" His eyes focused on the pendant. "That? How much?"

"100," Rose replied, the stall owner nodding eagerly behind her.

"What? You have to be kidding," the Doctor said, taking the pendant out of the stall owner's grip and looking over it. The stall owner looked surprised, and slightly annoyed.

"Yoo break yoo buy!" he insisted.

"This isn't worth 100," the Doctor stated bluntly. "Not even 50. Barely 20. You sure?" this last was to Rose, who nodded, pulling her puppy dog eyes at him. The Doctor sighed again, fishing out his psychic paper and flashing it at the stall owner. "I'll take this, thanks very much."

The stall owner's mouth fell open in surprise. "Yoor highnessh!" he gasped. "I'sh shorry!"

"Yes, well, don't do it again," the Doctor said, smiling as he handed Rose the necklace. She beamed at him happily, reaching up to peck a kiss on his cheek. He went slightly red.

"Doc? Can I have this?" Jack was busy looking in amongst a load of other artefacts, pulling out what looked like a power pack.

"What is it?" Rose asked, slipping the pendant around her neck.

"Charger for my sonic blaster," he said, before turning to glare at the Doctor. "Since _someone _blew up the factory."

"I like bananas," the Doctor muttered.

"Can I have it?"

"No."

"What? You got Rose something! You just don't love me, Doc?" Jack asked sadly.

The Doctor sighed. "Fine!" He turned to the stall owner. "We'll take that too, please."

"Of coursh, yoor highnessh," the stall owner answered, bowing courteously.

"Good job you're doing here, I must say," the Doctor said, giving a half-assed salute. "... Selling... things."

"Thanking yoo!" the stall owner answered happily, giving them a cheery wave as they left the stall to join the milling crowd once more.

"Back to the TARDIS?" Rose asked.

The Doctor nodded, pushing them in front of him towards the direction of the TARDIS. "I'm hungry."

Suddenly someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around to come face to face with two figures in black hoodies, hunched over, obviously trying not to be seen.

"Doctor, tell them you'll catch up," one of the figures said in a voice he was sure he recognised. It was for this reason he trusted them.

"Doctor?" a voice yelled from somewhere in the crowd in front of him. He turned, trying to see Jack and Rose through the crowd but it was too dense.

"I'll be there in a minute!" he yelled, turning back to the hoodies. "I'm all yours," he said, throwing out his arms and grinning. "To beat me up. Or something. Am I right?"

They didn't answer. Both of the figures grabbed one of his arms each, pulling him forcedly back through the crowd in the other direction of Jack and Rose. The Doctor had the slight feeling this wasn't a good thing.

"If it's okay I don't really feel like getting beaten up. Not today. Today's sunny."

They didn't answer him, continuing to pull him through the crowds to a small alley on the side. Okay, this was beating up territory.

"Whatever I did, I'm sorry," he said, feeling slightly nervous now. "Very so..."

They let go of him, pointing down the alley towards something. He trailed off as he looked up, seeing the one thing he never expected sitting neatly at the end of the alley.

"The TARDIS?" he asked in disbelief. "What? How's this..."

The two figures suddenly drew off their hoods, revealing the faces beneath. He blinked in surprise.

"Jack? Rose?"

"Doc," Jack began slowly. "We really need your help."

* * *

"I won't lie to you. This is strange," the Doctor said, gazing down at the small boy lying in the bed of Jackie's flat. "That's me?"

"This creature... the Sac-somethin'," Rose was saying. "It de-aged you."

"The Saeculornex?" the Doctor asked, frowning as he stared at the boy in the bed. "I thought they were a myth..."

"Well, they're not," Rose said. "You've been stuck like this for weeks..."

"And your solution was to come and find me?" the Doctor asked, turning to Jack and Rose.

"He told us to... you told us to... It's all really complicated," Rose explained, frowning.

"Maybe you'd better start from the beginning?"

Jack sighed. "We're gonna need some tea."

* * *

**A/N: **_Chapter 14 – The Doctor's Not Cool_

_"What's it like being a Time Lord?" the boy suddenly interrupted, eager._

_"Err..."_

_"Is it fun? Do you decide things 'n stuff?"_

_The Doctor clicked his tongue, his head bouncing from side to side in contemplation. "Weeeell..."_

_"Do you have a TARDIS? Can you fly it?"_

_"I..."_

_"Where's the furthest you've been?"_

_"Umm..."_

_"What's your favourite place?"_

_"My..."_

_"Are you famous?"_

_"A..."_


	14. The Doctor's Not Cool

**A/N: **You're starting to catch up to me! :o

* * *

Chapter 14 – The Doctor's Not Cool

As it turned out they needed quite a few cups of tea to get through the story. By the time it was over the Doctor was completely silent, tapping his chin, deep in thought.

"The yellow liquid, can I see it?" he asked, and Rose obliged, holding the phial to him. He took it, examining it over in both hands, frowning.

"D'you know what it is?" Rose asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. My child self made it?"

Rose nodded. "When he was in one of his trance things."

He stared at it for a moment longer before taking a sharp intake of breath through gritted teeth, slipping the phial in his pocket.

"Rose?" suddenly came a small voice from the other room. Rose got up instantly, moving quickly to the spare room as Jack and the Doctor glanced at each other.

Rose pulled open the door to the spare room, finding the little Doctor lying in the bed staring at her with big brown eyes. She ran over to him, hugging him tightly.

"How are you feeling?" she asked after a moment, pulling back to check him over as he stared up at her, grinning.

"Great!" he said, then paused, and thought some more. "No! I'm hungry."

Rose laughed, kissing his forehead. "What would you like?"

"Err..." He bit his lip, mulling it over as if it was the biggest decision he'd ever made in his life. "Banana!"

"Just a banana?" she asked.

He nodded, still grinning as she jumped up and headed to the door, skipping past the Doctor and Jack. John and the Doctor's eyes met. For a moment the Doctor just stared.

"Doctor!" John suddenly yelled, pointing at him with a beaming smile.

The Doctor blinked in surprise. "You know me?"

John regarded him like an idiot. "Course! We played i-Spy and you sucked."

"Oh," the Doctor said, still not really understanding. "Well I'm real." He sat down on the bed next to the child, smiling reassuringly. "Well I-"

"What's it like being a Time Lord?" the boy suddenly interrupted, eager.

"Err..."

"Is it fun? Do you decide things 'n stuff?"

The Doctor clicked his tongue, his head bouncing from side to side in contemplation. "Weeeell..."

"Do you have a TARDIS? Can you fly it?"

"I..."

"Where's the furthest you've been?"

"Umm..."

"What's your favourite place?"

"My..."

"Are you famous?"

"A..."

Suddenly the boy began to cough chestily, jolting from the pure force. Jack launched forward instantly and reassuringly patting his back, holding him until he stopped and gazed up at the Doctor through teary eyes.

"Why am I so sick?" he asked quietly, all eagerness vanished.

The Doctor smiled at him sadly. "Are you hurting anywhere?" he asked, pulling out his stethoscope.

"Here," he replied, pointing at his chest.

"Mind if I take a look?"

"Sure. What's that?" he asked, pointing at the stethoscope in the Doctor's hands.

"Oh come on, you seen one of these before," the Doctor said, laughing. "You can't have forgotten the incident with the floor polish."

The boy suddenly turned very green. "Oh... yeah."

"Haunts me to this day," the Doctor muttered quietly before placing the eartips in and slipping the end on the boy's chest under his pyjama shirt, listening intently. "Breathe in for me?" John obliged. "Ok, now out." He slipped the end across the the other side of his chest. "Breathe in... now breathe out."

He finally nodded as if satisfied, plucking the eartips out. He then peeled back the pyjama shirt, examining the small red puncture wound in the boy's chest.

"Definitely an allergic reaction, like you said," the Doctor muttered. "This might hurt a bit, okay John?"

The boy nodded, tensing up slightly.

"Just relax," the Doctor assured him. "Tell me if it hurts too much and I'll stop."

The boy nodded again, relaxing. The Doctor began to scrutinise the wound, pressing down with his thumbs and stretching out the skin.

"Oh, interesting..." the Doctor muttered, pulling out his sonic screwdriver, adjusting the setting and buzzing the wound. "Veeery interesting..."

"What?" Jack asked, the boy still clinging to his shirt with one hand.

"Hold on," the Doctor said, adjusting the setting again and buzzing the wound. "Okay, it shouldn't hurt anymore."

John grinned. "What's that?" he asked, pointing at the sonic screwdriver.

"A sonic screwdriver," the Doctor said, evidently proud. "I made it."

"What?" The boy looked disappointed. "A screwdriver?"

The Doctor pouted, the wind knocked out of his sails slightly. "A screwdriver's cool."

"No it's not," the boy said bluntly.

Jack laughed openly. "I've got a sonic blaster," he said to the boy, who stared at him in bewilderment.

"Whoa! What does it do?"

"Blasts holes in walls," Jack replied, shooting the Doctor a sly grin.

"Cool!"

"But that's rubbish, 'cause my screwdriver..." the Doctor began strongly, trying to think of something it could do. "It can... Can... Err..."

"Unlock doors?" Rose suddenly input from the side with a grin, walking over to them holding a tray of food and drink.

"Yeah, it can do that," the Doctor stated, as if it was the best thing in the Universe. "And... reattach barbed wire... And... triplicate the flammability of port wine."

"No it can't," Rose said, placing the tray on the bedside table handing a banana milkshake a plate of toast to John who took them eagerly.

"Oh..." the Doctor realised. "You were there for that, weren't you."

Rose dropped down beside the Doctor, tousling his hair affectionately. "Maybe. So what have you found out?"

"The Doctor's uncool?" Jack said with an evident smirk.

Rose sighed. "What have you found out?" she repeated.

"... I used to have a laser spanner..." the Doctor protested in a small voice.

"Doctor."

"Oh yes, right, sorry. Well it's definitely an allergic reaction, but I need to know what that yellow liquid is..." He looked at his child self, currently stuffing his face with toast. "John?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you recognise this?" He pulled out the phial of yellow liquid, holding it up to the child.

The boy suddenly stopped dead, staring at the phial blankly with the next piece of toast hanging in the air, halfway to his mouth.

"This is the trance," Rose whispered, looking at the Doctor who shifted forward slightly.

"Doctor," the Doctor said firmly, holding up the tube. "Tell me what this is."

"In... Intra..." the boy whispered, struggling to form the words. "Traven... ven...ven nous..."

"So it's IV," the Doctor summarised. "What does it do?"

"In... Infe..." The boy was shaking now, his eyes wide and transfixed at the fluid. "Infect!" he suddenly yelled, and then blinked. He stopped shaking, silence dawning on him for a moment before he launched into another coughing fit.

Rose instantly launched forward to comfort him. Seconds later the door burst open to reveal Jackie storming in, hands on hips and glaring at the adult Doctor.

"Just what are you doin' to my boy?"

"_Your _boy?" the Doctor repeated, utterly bewildered.

"He's in _my _care!" Jackie insisted, eyes narrowed. "You've only been 'ere for two hours and you've already 'urt him!"

"I didn't do this!" the Doctor protested, getting to his feet. "This is from the..."

"I don't care!" Jackie snapped.

"Please don't fight," the child suddenly whispered, Jackie and the Doctor looked at him to find he had tears in his eyes. Jackie ran over to him instantly, but Rose noticed that the Doctor was just standing there completely still, his eyes wide.

"We're not fighting, okay love?" Jackie said gently, holding him tightly and kissing his head. The Doctor was still standing paralysed, not even blinking.

"Doctor?" Rose asked.

"I know what we have to do," he said, his eyes connecting with her's.

"What?" Rose asked, jumping to her feet to stand next to him, Jack joining them.

The Doctor sighed. "You're not going to like it."

"What is it?" Jack asked.

"_Really _not going to like it."

"Doctor, tell us," Rose said slowly and clearly.

"Bait," the Doctor said, pointing at his younger self still in the grip of Jackie. "He has to be bait."

* * *

**A/N: **Next two chapters are just a totally random story inside a story, not quite sure what was going through my mind when I wrote them but hey.

_Chapter 15 - Mini Doc's Mini Adventure Part 1_

_He blinked, surprised, turning around to find a creature he had never seen before suddenly standing in front of him, seemingly looking him up and down in inspection. He would have been terrified, apart from the simple fact that the creature was no taller than he was, covered in soft fur with four legs and a cat's face. Its tail swished behind it gracefully, long and strong. John felt strangely comfortable with its presence._

_"Hi!" he said brightly. "I'm lost, can you help me?"_

_"Garrr..." the creature said again, tilting its head and gazing at the boy in contemplation._

_"Garrr!" he imitated, and the creature somehow looked amused and happy. It wrapped its long tail around his chest and lifted him up off of the ground firmly but gently, placing him on its back still with its tail wrapped around his middle so he wouldn't fall. It turned, and began to trot off across the desert._


	15. Mini Doc's Mini Adventure Part 1

**A/N: **It's a random story inside a story :o Not quite sure what was goign through my mind, but oh well, tis cute.

* * *

Chapter 15 - Mini Doc's Mini Adventure Part 1

"What you doing?"

The Doctor looked up in surprise from where he lay under the TARDIS console, wires hanging around his neck with a metal contraption in one hand and his sonic in the other to see his child self's head bobbing into view.

"I'm repairing the central circuit power stabiliser," he replied.

The boy's eyes were wide and fascinated. "What's that?"

"It's a part of the TARDIS that stabilises the amount of power running from the core of the vortex, if I don't fix it then next journey we go boom."

"Oh... Can I help?" the boy asked hopefully.

The Doctor grinned, resuming his fixing. "Nah. It's too dangerous."

"I'm not scared!" the boy insisted. "I can help and then show Irving and he'll cry 'cause I'm better than him. Then show Mummy and Daddy and they'll be proud. Where are Mummy and Daddy?"

The Doctor stopped working, looking at him for a moment. "Jack and Rose told you, they're on holiday. But they're coming back very soon to pick you up."

"Oh," he sounded almost disappointed. "I don't wanna go home."

"But if you don't go home you won't become a Time Lord," the Doctor pointed out.

"Oh," he said again, this time of realisation. "But I don't like Gallifrey."

The Doctor fell silent for a moment before he spoke, his voice quiet. "Appreciate it while it's there for you."

"What's that mean?" he asked, but the Doctor feel silent, seemingly absorbed in fixing the TARDIS. "... How many times have you regenerated?"

The Doctor paused, frowning. "Nine."

"Does it hurt?"

He shrugged. "Not really. More sort of... tingly."

"Have you ever been blond?"

"A couple of times, yeah."

"Have you ever been green?" the boy asked, moving over to the console and gazing at all the levers and buttons.

"Err... not that I recall. I'd like to be ginger," the Doctor said, half of him still in the console.

"Why?" the child ask, raising his hand to an elevated red button on the console, the overwhelming desire to push it...

"Why not?" the Doctor countered. A silent moment passed before he reconnected the last wire and sat up, grinning triumphantly. "Repaired!" He looked around, but his younger self wasn't there. "John?"

He pulled himself out from under the console, climbing out of the hole and reattaching the floor plate before straightening up to find John standing next to the console, staring at a button with his hand hovering over it.

"Ah, John, now... don't press that..." the Doctor said quickly, moving forward.

"Okay," he said, pulling his hand away before looking at up at the Doctor. "Can we go somewhere?"

"Oh, no," the Doctor muttered, running a hand through his hair. "Jackie would castrate me."

"What's that mean?"

"Something very bad," the Doctor replied, wincing. "Plus, this isn't my TARDIS."

"Whose is it?"

"Yours."

"Mine?" John looked astounded and delighted at the same time. "Then I say we go somewhere!" Before the Doctor could stop him he slammed his hand down on the red button and the TARDIS exploded into life.

"John!" the Doctor yelled, grabbing onto the TARDIS console as she lurched violently, almost sending him faceplanting into the floor. "Hold onto something!"

John grabbed the Doctor's jacket, clinging on for dear life.

"I didn't mean me!" the Doctor yelped, trying in vain to regain control of the TARDIS but it was spinning out of control, lights flashing in a crazy strobe effect. John let go of the Doctor's jacket, but seconds later the TARDIS lurched again and the Doctor quickly grabbed him, holding him upright. "Okay, me, me, hold onto me!"

But it was too late as TARDIS seemed to do a complete flip, the Doctor grabbing John and protecting him with his own body before he did this time faceplant into the floor.

The TARDIS stilled, the console groaning as if in pain. The lights finally fully came up and John jumped off of the Doctor from were they lay on the floor, punching the air.

"That was fun! Again! Again!" he yelled, grinning. But the Doctor wasn't moving, lying on the TARDIS grating with his eyes closed. John knelt down next to him, pushing his shoulder. "Doctor? Doctor? Wake up?"

He didn't move. The little Doctor bit his lip in uncertainty, pushing him again. No reaction.

"Uh oh," the boy muttered. "Jack! Rose!" He got up and ran over to the TARDIS doors, throwing it open and stepping out with intention to run to the flat – but stumbled on something completely unexpected. This was not the estate. This wasn't even Earth...

He was standing in seemingly the middle of a desert, sand covering the ground and on the horizon a clear rock formation almost hidden by the dust in the air.

"Woooooooow..." he whispered, taking a few bold steps forward into this strange new world. He had the overwhelming nag at the back of his mind that maybe he should turn back and wait for the Doctor to wake up... but instead found himself wandering forwards, excited by the prospect of the unknown. Where was this place? He'd never been anywhere like it before...

After ten minutes of walking in a seemingly endless desert, the rocks were getting no closer. Common sense told him that maybe it was time to go back to the TARDIS as this was a little boring, but when he turned around to scour the horizon, the TARDIS wasn't in sight, hidden by the dust...

He gulped. Okay. So he was lost.

"Garrr..."

He blinked, surprised, turning around to find a creature he had never seen before suddenly standing in front of him, seemingly looking him up and down in inspection. He would have been terrified, apart from the simple fact that the creature was no taller than he was, covered in soft fur with four legs and a cat's face. Its tail swished behind it gracefully, long and strong. John felt strangely comfortable with its presence.

"Hi!" he said brightly. "I'm lost, can you help me?"

"Garrr..." the creature said again, tilting its head and gazing at the boy in contemplation.

"Garrr!" he imitated, and the creature somehow looked amused and happy. It wrapped its long tail around his chest and lifted him up off of the ground firmly but gently, placing him on its back still with its tail wrapped around his middle so he wouldn't fall. It turned, and began to trot off across the desert.

* * *

The Doctor grunted, shifting slightly on the grating as he finally came to.

"John... never press that button again," he grated, opening his eyes and lifting his impolitely throbbing head. Then he realised that no one else was in the room with him...

He sat bolt upright, his eyes wide.

"John? John!" he called, but he got no reply. And the TARDIS doors were wide open. Three guesses where he was...

Using the TARDIS console to balance himself he pushed up onto two feet, one hand still clutching his head as he scanned the room in the small hope that maybe he'd missed him the first time.

He definitely wasn't there.

He made over to the door, sticking his head out of the gap into the golden wilderness of an endless desert, shrouded in dust so dense he could barely see anything.

"John!" he yelled, hoping and praying he hadn't gone far. He knew the penchant he had for walking into trouble... "JOHN!"

He got nothing back.

The Doctor sighed, somehow already knowing this was going to take a while as he stepped out of the TARDIS, shut the door behind him and began to walk across the wilderness, yelling for John.

* * *

**A/N: **_Chapter 16 - Mini Doc's Mini Adventure Part 2_

_He laughed, taking a deep breath and ducking down beneath the water, swimming downwards into the deeps of the water. It was perfectly clear. He looked downwards... and nearly screamed._

_Sitting patiently in the water was a huge, pointy-headed creature with bulbous red eyes and bared, shiny white teeth. It stared at John with its huge red eyes for a moment in utter silence as John found himself paralysed by utter fear, unable to move a muscle..._

_It lunged._


	16. Mini Doc's Mini Adventure Part 2

**A/N: **About the paradox thing since a couple of you were asking - there's an episode that explains why the Doctors can run around and come into physical contact with one another without a paradox, but I can't remember which. My stock reason is that he's a Time Lord and Time Lords are clever :D I doubt a measly thing like a paradox would affect a Lord of Time.

Besides, this story would be pretty boring if he couldn't have physical contact with his self :o

* * *

Chapter 16 - Mini Doc's Mini Adventure Part 2

The creature took him across the desert for at least ten minutes, and a sandstorm was building. They made it into the safety of a cave before it started, the creature taking him down a long tunnel into a small cavern alive with creatures of all kinds in various nests built by plants and sticks. But the shared common factor here was that all of these creatures were tiny – young cubs all gathered together in what seemed like orphanage.

John noticed all of them were staring at him as the tail lifted him up off of the creatures back and placed him carefully in one of the nests, where it proceeded to lick him clean of all the dust he'd been covered in from the journey. John giggled as the creature cleaned him, purring affectionately as it did so. It was a nursing mother creature.

When she was done she fetched him some food – he wasn't really sure what it was as it was pink and squidgy, but he was very hungry. He shoved it into his mouth happily, surprised and very delighted to find it tasted slightly like banana. The mother purred contentedly, seemingly smiling again. He smiled back.

"Thank you, garrr!" he said, resuming eating. By the time he had finished a lot of the cubs in the cave with them were gathered around, staring at him with interest. He gave a cheery wave and his biggest grin.

"Garrr!" he said happily, getting up onto his feet. "Can we play?"

One of the cubs stepped forward towards him. He stroked its furry back and it purred in contentment, bouncing around his feet. He started bouncing around after it, waving his arms around. Pretty soon the rest of the cubs were following in what could only be a strange alien conga line.

"No! Wait I got an idea!" the boy Gallifreyan suddenly yelled, stopping dead. Most of the animals in the line behind him stopped suddenly in surprise, causing them to fall over.

"Garrr!" they yelped and John looked back at them, hand over his mouth.

"Ooops! I'm sorry," he said, helping them to stand up. "Have you ever played It?"

They all stared at him in confusion.

"Err... Tag?" he tried. He got nothing but blank stares back. "Like this! I'm it!" He tapped one of the cubs and backed away quickly, yelling, "you're it!"

The cub nudged him back. "Garr garr!"

"Yeah!" John said triumphantly. "Like that!" He tapped the cub again. "You're it!" he yelled, then ran off.

The cub, thoroughly disgruntled, tapped one near its foot with its tail. "Garr garr!" it growled, then ran off after the boy. Then all the cubs ran from the catcher, leaving it standing in the middle of the cave, a little shocked.

"Garrr!" it said, running off after them.

They passed the day by playing and soon the night came and with a stern look and a single garrr from the mother the cubs settled down reluctantly for bed. The mother took John over to a newly made nest, settling him in and licking him affectionately before leaving. John curled up into a ball on the nest, warm and comfortable, sighing happily as his eyes closed.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Doctor was starting to feel a little hopeless as he wandered through the never ending desert, calling out John's name so much his throat was beginning to seize up from lack of water. This was a definite hopeless situation. Day had turned to night and he didn't have the faintest clue where he was going, never mind how tired and hungry he felt with sand in every conceivable crevice of his body.

But his child self was out here somewhere, probably alone, cold, hungry, lost and terrified. And it was the Doctor's duty to find him and help him – after all this was both his future and younger self. If the boy got eaten on this planet then the Doctor's own personal future did not bode well...

But this was impossible. It was like finding a microscopic needle in a giant desert haystack.

Then he stopped dead. How thick was _he?_ He could easily find him! He had the very device back in the TARDIS!

Feeling slightly more positive he turned around 180 degrees on the spot and began the four hour walk back to the TARDIS.

* * *

The mother took the cubs and John outside the next morning to play in the sand dunes. The cubs followed John's lead as he ran like an aeroplane across the sand and clambered up a dune, panting from the heat, needing water. From the top of the dunes he scoured the horizon with the cubs milling around his feet, meeting the sight of a large oasis.

John wasted no time in running down the sand slope, almost tumbling head first before he made it to the water. He dropped down to his hands and knees, cupping the water in his palms and drinking it down. The cubs followed, lapping up the water with their tongues gratefully. John finished his drink and stood up straight, gazing into the water for a moment in consideration before taking a few steps back, ready for a running leap...

All of the cubs were startled by water crashing down onto them as John plunged cannonball into the river, laughing happily.

"Come on!" he yelled to the cubs, lying back in the water to balance float as a starfish on the surface. The cubs were slightly sceptical at first, but after a moment they followed, if but slightly hesitantly, into the water, paddling towards John.

He splashed them playfully, and after a moment their initial fear faded and they began to enjoy it. The boy righted himself in the water, swimming round and round the cubs as they tried to chase him.

He laughed, taking a deep breath and ducking down beneath the water, swimming downwards into the deeps of the water. It was perfectly clear. He looked downwards... and nearly screamed.

Sitting patiently in the water was a huge, pointy-headed creature with bulbous red eyes and bared, shiny white teeth. It stared at John with its huge red eyes for a moment in utter silence as John found himself paralysed by utter fear, unable to move a muscle...

It lunged. John reacted instantly, backing off in one swift movement before twisted over and swimming desperately for the surface, his hearts hammering in his chest.

He broke the surface, panicking as he stared around at the cubs, some of them still struggling to swim at all.

"Swim!" he yelled, grabbing as many cubs as he could in both arms and propelling himself forward with his legs to the edge of the oasis – how had it got so far away?

The cubs squeaked and garrred in panic, following him as best they could, but many were still not strong swimmers. John reached the side of the oasis and helped the ones around him onto dry land, before turning back to see a handful of cubs stranded, panicking and squeaking in the middle of the water, desperately trying to paddle but they kept sinking.

Somehow John knew by instinct what he had to do. Already he was swimming to the cubs as fast as he could, trying to reach them before that creature did. He grabbed them tightly, some jumping onto his back and clinging on for dear life as he began once again to swim back to dry land.

He was almost there when something suddenly snagged his leg and he cried out in shock, letting go of the cubs and waving his arms frantically before he was pulled under.

He tried desperately to swim against the pull but it was too strong, dragging him down by his trouser leg into the depths of the water. Soon he was running out of air and energy but he kept struggling for what it was worth, not that it was doing anything to slow their descent.

He was about to give up hope when something suddenly grabbed around his middle, pulling him up towards the surface. He was almost out of air before whatever was pulling him broke him free of the creature's grip, swimming him up towards the light...

They emerged on the surface, the Sun almost blinding him. The thing that had him in its grip swam him over to the side of water were all the cubs were waiting, absolutely terrified. The moment they saw him they squeaked happily, jumping around and garrring and purring. He was laid out on the sand carefully and before his saver finally appeared above him, staring down.

"Doctor!" John exclaimed, surprised.

The drenched Time Lord leaning over him grinned. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah!" John exclaimed, pushing to sit up on his elbows.

"Garrr!" Suddenly came a growl from behind them and John and the Doctor both turned to find the mother bounding towards them, her eyes on the Doctor, filled with hate.

She reached them, lowering on her hind legs and growling threateningly at the Time Lord. The Doctor backed away, apprehensive. She bounded over to John, standing over him, protecting him. The Doctor instantly knew what was going on. This was a nursing mother, and having found John wandering alone in the desert had taken him into her care, believing he was an orphan that need care and protection.

"He's mine," the Doctor said slowly, pointing at himself, then at John. "He looks like me, see? He's in my care."

She hissed and spat, still growling at him.

"I need to take him home," the Doctor said slowly. "Thank you for looking after him."

The mother stopped growling and hissing, and instead looked at the Doctor sadly. All of the cubs milling around the Doctor's feet squeaked and whined, unhappy. The mother stepped back, giving John one last lick up his cheek before she stepped back, resigned.

The boy got up onto both feet, looking at her sadly. He suddenly ran forward, hugging the mother's furry frame tightly. She embraced him with her tail, tears falling from her alien cat-like eyes. Even the Doctor was slightly saddened as John pulled away, bowing courteously to her.

"Thank you for having me," he said politely. Instantly all the cubs began milling about his feet, whining and rubbing his legs. He crouched down to stroke them all for a moment before the Doctor took his hand, pulling him away from the group.

The mother gave one last sad look at him before she turned, and began to lead her motley group of cubs back towards their home. But one didn't follow. It sat directly in front of the child, tail waving as it stared up at John with pleading eyes.

"Go on, go with Mum," the Doctor said, pointing at the group leaving across the sand. "Don't wanna get left behind, do you?"

It didn't even look over its shoulder. The Doctor could see the mother looking back at the cub, but instead of running back to retrieve him she simply nodded, and continued walking.

"Garrr!" the cub said, walking over to John and rubbing up against his leg. John looked up at the Doctor as he knelt down to the cub, stroking him.

"Can we keep him?" he asked eagerly. "Please? Please?"

The Doctor stared at the Mother as she disappeared over the dune.

"I guess that's a yes," he said, slightly bewildered.

"Yay! Thank you!" the boy said happily, picking up the cub and hugging him tightly. The cub purred in his grip before he climbed up on John's shoulder and sat there, truly happy with his new master. "I wanna show Rose and Jack and Jackie!"

"Yeah..." the Doctor said, beginning to lead him back towards the TARDIS. "Just need to think of an _extremely_ convincing cover story."

* * *

**A/N:** _Chapter 17 – George The Strange Alien Cat Dog_

_The Doctor watched the tracker with Jack and Rose both peering over his shoulder. Pretty soon the red dot appeared on the side of the screen, advancing to the boy._

_Jackie was biting her nails so much she'd almost worn them down. Jack and Rose were tensed beside the Doctor with baited breath, and the Doctor himself was nervous – he had no idea why. There was no reason this plan shouldn't work._

_The red dot hit the green dot. Seconds passed._

_Then the red dot and the green dot both started to move._

_Back across the screen._

_The Doctor's eyes widened. "What?"_


	17. George The Strange Alien Cat Dog

**A/N: **Timeout here to say thank you to all readers and especially reviewers, I'm very happy you're enjoying it and hopefully I will not disappoint D:

* * *

Chapter 17 – George The Strange Alien Cat Dog

"Okay, so what do you say to Jackie when she asks you where we've been?"

"The beach!" the boy Doctor replied happily.

"Yep," the Doctor nodded enthusiastically. "And where did we get the alien cat dog?"

"He ran up to us and wouldn't go away!"

"Brilliant!" the Doctor said, beaming as the TARDIS sprang into life to take them back to the Powell Estate. It landed relatively smoothly this time and within moments John had burst out of the doors with the strange new alien cat dog in tow. Luckily it was brown and furry and quite small, so unless people looked closely it just looked like a normal domestic pet.

The Doctor made it up to the flat just in time to find John entering the doorway. Jack and Rose were lounging on the sofa as always, looking up on their entry in surprise as Jackie appeared from the Kitchen doorway, holding a tea towel.

"And where have my boys been?" Rose asked, getting up to meet them. The alien cat dog began bounding around her feet happily and she looked down in surprise. "Hello, and who's this?"

"Where have you been?" Jackie asked indignantly, fixating the Doctor with a cold, hard stare.

"In the TARDIS," the Doctor said innocently.

"Don't play innocent with me, we heard you take off!" Jackie snapped. "And you're both covered in sand!"

"Where did you go?" Rose asked the child.

"Err..." he glanced at the Doctor, who nodded encouragingly. "A... um... a..." His eyes suddenly widened in realisation. "A beach! Is that right?" he asked, turning to the Doctor who suddenly found his shoes extremely interesting.

Rose raised an amused eyebrow. "And where did you get him?" she asked, pointed at the alien cat dog currently running a figure of eight around her and the boy.

"He... umm... He... What do I say?" he asked the Doctor, who winced. "Oh yeah! He came up to us and wouldn't go away."

Rose glanced at the Doctor, grinning. Jackie however, seemed to accept this badly delivered excuse.

"And you didn't even bother to clean him up?" she asked the grown Time Lord, astounded. The Doctor shifted uncomfortably.

"It's a bit strange giving your younger self a bath," he muttered. Jackie rolled her eyes, moving forward and picking up John in both arms.

"Bath time for you!" she said almost happily. John squealed and protested as she carried him off into the bathroom with the alien cat dog in tow. The Doctor stared after her, looking practically mortified.

"She bathes me?" he asked, his jaw wide open.

Jack and Rose both nodded, laughing at his expression.

"Aghh... eww... agh..." The Doctor looked about ready to throw up as he collapsed down onto the sofa beside Rose, head in hands.

"So where did you go? Really?" Rose asked, nudging him.

He sighed, and then began to explain just what had happened in the seemingly five minutes they had been away. The button pushing, the being knocked out, right down to the creature hiding in the oasis and him being attacked by a motherly overgrown cat. Just as he finished Jackie came back out of the bathroom holding the little Doctor, now dressed in pyjamas.

"Are you gonna get cleaned up or do I have to bathe you too?" Jackie wondered to the Doctor. "'Cause you're getting sand all over my couch!"

The horrified look returned to the Doctor as he quickly jumped out of his seat and ran for the bathroom faster than Rose and Jack had seen him move before. John jumped up onto the sofa where the Doctor had been sitting moments before, his new pet jumping up to sit on his lap.

"What're you gonna call him?" Jack asked the boy, pointing at the pet.

"Oh," the boy said, plainly not really having thought about it at all. "Umm..."

"How about Jack?" Jack suggested with a smirk.

"Nah," the boy muttered, still thinking hard. "Mickey!" He wasn't quite sure why. Rose and Jack burst out laughing.

"You wanna call your pet Mickey?" Rose summarised, still laughing.

"George?" the boy suggested meekly.

"It's your choice," Rose assured him, ruffling his hair.

"George!" the little Doctor said happily, stroking the furry brown animal curled up on his lap. George purred contentedly.

* * *

"Okay," the Doctor began two hours later when his little self was in bed, drawing out two phials from his pockets, one the yellow liquid and the other a liquid clear in colour. He held them up in front of Jack, Rose and Jackie, letting them have a close look. "Here's the plan. This liquid here..." He indicated the yellow one with a nod of his head. "Is an intravenous solution that poisons what this creature eat from him. If I inject it into John then when it takes its next feed it's going to make them a bit sick. It doesn't affect John in anyway," he added hastily on the end when he saw Jackie's expression.

"But sick how?" Rose wondered.

"Gastroenteritis, if you must know," the Doctor said. Jack, Rose and Jackie winced. "But like I said, it won't affect John in the slightest, it'll just infect the part of him the Saeculornex feed off."

"Brilliant!" Jack realised the outcome instantly, grinning. Jackie was a little slower on the uptake.

"But how's makin' it have gastroenteritis gonna help anythin'?" she asked.

The Doctor resisted the urge to sigh and roll his eyes. "If it eats his age... what is it going to vomit and poo?"

Jackie's eyes widened in realisation. "Oh."

"Exactly," the Doctor said, grinning. "So first I'll inject that. Then I'm going to give him this." He indicated the clear liquid. "It's a sedate, so he won't feel any pain. He'll be deeply unconscious when it takes its feed and it gets infected, the biggest risk is that we're left with my baby self, but as soon as the Saeculornex is infected the theory is he'll be back to normal and grown in just a few days, along with the rest of the world."

"Okay," Rose nodded. "This is a good plan. I'm in."

"Me too," Jack said.

"No way," Jackie interrupted, her arms folded. "You're makin' him bait! I'm not havin' that."

"Mum," Rose said gently, turning to her Mother. "It's the only way we can beat this thing. He won't feel any pain at all."

"But..." Jackie began.

"Jackie," the Doctor shifted forward on the sofa, shoving the phials of liquid back into his pocket. "Look at me. I know you're scared, but this cannot hurt or kill John. He's still my future self and I would not do anything that's a risk to his life. Only good can come of this. Do you trust me?"

Jackie still seemed hesitant, but after a moment she nodded, sighing. "I trust you."

"Good," the Doctor said. "The Saeculornex should come back to feed tomorrow, we need to get ready."

* * *

The Doctor and Jack waited in the sitting room the next morning for Rose and Jackie to give John a quiet pep talk and get him dressed. After ten minutes they appeared out of the spare room door, George bouncing around John's feet as the boy made his way to the sofa where the Doctor was sitting and jumped up beside him.

"Morning," the Doctor said happily.

John just stared at him in silence, plainly slightly terrified of what the Doctor was about to tell him from Jackie's macabre tale.

"I've found a way I can stop you being so sick," the Doctor began gently, pulling out the phials. "But you're gonna have to be really brave."

John stared at the phials. "What do they do?" he asked.

"Good question," the Doctor said, holding up the yellow one plainly for him to see. "This injection is gonna make you better, okay? It's something that will make the creature that keeps feeding off of you very ill so it won't come back."

"Will it hurt?" the boy asked quietly.

"Not in the slightest," the Doctor assured him. "Because this here..." - he held up the clear liquid - "... is a sedate that will send you to sleep and make you have good dreams. When you wake up you'll feel much better. D'you understand?"

The boy nodded, still staring at the liquid, swinging his legs and kicking the side of the sofa.

"And is that okay? If you don't want me to do it, just say."

"It's okay," John said. "When are you gonna do it?"

"Tonight," the Doctor replied.

"So you're gonna have a really fun day to make up for it," Rose said quickly, dropping down to John's height and pulling him into a hug. "Anythin' you wanna do?"

"Football!" the boy yelled happily, startling George as he jumped off of the sofa and grabbed Jack's arm. "Jack! Jack! Let's play football!"

Jack sighed. "Okay, let's go," he conceded, looking less than happy with the idea.

* * *

The Doctor injected his little self with the cocktails of drugs just before 7pm that night. They laid the sleeping boy on the bed and withdrew to the living room, bracing themselves for what was about to happen next.

The Doctor watched the tracker with Jack and Rose both peering over his shoulder. Pretty soon the red dot appeared on the side of the screen, advancing to the boy.

Jackie was biting her nails so much she'd almost worn them down. Jack and Rose were tensed beside the Doctor with baited breath, and the Doctor himself was nervous – he had no idea why. There was no reason this plan shouldn't work.

The red dot hit the green dot. Seconds passed.

Then the red dot and the green dot both started to move.

Back across the screen.

The Doctor's eyes widened. "What?"

"What's happened?" Jackie practically shrieked. "What is it?"

"Its taken him!" the Doctor yelled, still staring at the tracker screen as he sprang to his feet. Pretty soon the red dot and the green dot had fallen off the side of the radar into the unknown beyond. "It's taken him back where it lives!"

"Please say that was part of the plan!" Jackie begged him. He bit his lip, his eyes wide. It had _definitely_ not been part of the plan. His future self could be in mortal danger...

"TARDIS!" the Doctor yelled, running off out the door with the three humans in very close pursuit.

* * *

**A/N: **_Chapter 18 – Going Underground_

_They had just found another dead end and the Doctor was rapidly losing patience. They backtracked to the four-way junction and this time headed north, but suddenly Rose yelped in surprise as her foot slipped on some dislodged rock. She made a grab for the Doctor but missed, falling back down a clear slant that ended in complete darkness..._

_"Rose!" The Doctor lunged for her, but she was out of reach. Panicking, Rose tried in vain to grab onto anything, but the abyss grew ever closer and she fell down and down, until she fell into the darkness, screaming..._

_"NO! ROSE!" the Doctor yelled, his hearts hammering as he clambered desperately over the rocks to the edge of the slant with Jack, the both of them casting their torch beams down into the darkness, but they couldn't see anything through the utter blackness..._


	18. Going Underground

Chapter 18 – Going Underground

The TARDIS was flying like she'd never flown before. The Doctor was frantically running around the TARDIS console with one hand clutching the tracker and the other trying to operate the buttons with Jackie, Jack and Rose clinging desperately to ridges in the console, trying in vain to stay upright. The TARDIS was groaning and wheezing as the Doctor hammered seemingly every button in sight, following the tracker dot across the radar in pursuit of the little lost Gallifreyan boy.

"What way?" the Doctor yelled, shoving the tracker into Rose's grip.

She looked down quickly, startled. "Err... right!"

The Doctor yanked down a lever and the TARDIS swung dramatically to the right.

"Back! Left! Left a bit!" Rose yelled, trying to keep an eye on the tracker whilst remaining upright. The TARDIS swung left. "Forward! Forward! Bit left, bit left! Nearly on top! Slow down! SLOW DOWN!"

The TARDIS seemed to hit the brakes, almost sending everyone face first into the TARDIS door itself. It finally landed with another bone crunching jolt. The Doctor didn't seem to care this time as he quickly ran towards the door with the tracker in hand, pulling the door open to reveal nothing but utter darkness beyond. He reached into his inside jacket pocket and took out a torch, flicking it on. The narrow beam did hardly anything to give any light into the utter darkness of where they'd landed, but all the same, he stepped out over the threshold and edged slowly into the dark.

"Wait!" Rose yelped, running out after him and consequently tripping over a rock just outside the door. He caught her just in time, steadying her on both feet before handing her another torch to use. She cast the beam around the room with him, but they could still barely make out anything. She could hear the trickling of water somewhere off in the distance, but from what she could make out the walls of the cavern they were perfectly dry.

"Where are we?" Rose asked, but the Doctor could give no reply. He was staring at the tracker in his hand, trying to determine which way to go.

"Where is he?" Jackie stumbled out of the TARDIS just after Jack, pulling her coat around her.

"Jackie, you should stay here," the Doctor said firmly.

"No bloody way," Jackie replied rudely. "This way?" She made forward in her hugely impractical high heels, stumbling slightly on a rock she couldn't see but managed to keep her footing by grabbing for Jack.

"Where are we?" Rose asked again. The Doctor took a breath through gritted teeth, casting his beam again.

"Some kind of cave, cavern... chasm?" the Doctor muttered, frowning. "Maybe the temporary home of the Saeculornex. But we're still on Earth. Which is very, very lucky."

"Lucky?" Jackie questioned, an edge of steel to her voice.

"Well it could've quite easily taken him on a trip through space, and considering I can only last a couple of minutes in the vacuum of space after years of practice I don't think he'd do very well, do you?" the Doctor replied airily.

Jackie hmphed and folded her arms, Rose glancing between her mother and the Doctor with a wry smile on her face. After a moment the Doctor pulled away, and began to make his way into the darkness.

* * *

It had been about twenty minutes of constant walking and yet they had not found John. It was evident that the tracker dot was either above them or below them, so the Doctor opted to keep trying to head downwards. As a consequence it wasn't getting any brighter and Jackie amount of complaining was only matched by the Doctor's irritation _at _her complaining.

Rose was at the front clinging to the Doctor's arm, concentrating purely on not falling over. Jackie was in the middle and Jack was bringing up the rear, one hand over his coat where his pistol sat comfortably in its holster. Jack's body was tensed like a coiled spring, his eyes checking every corner, waiting for any possible attack.

They had just found another dead end and the Doctor was rapidly losing patience. They backtracked to the four-way junction and this time headed north, but suddenly Rose yelped in surprise as her foot slipped on some dislodged rock. She made a grab for the Doctor but missed, falling back down a clear slant that ended in complete darkness...

"Rose!" The Doctor lunged for her, but she was out of reach. Panicking, Rose tried in vain to grab onto _anything,_ but the abyss grew ever closer and she fell down and down, until she fell into the darkness, screaming...

"NO! ROSE!" the Doctor yelled, his hearts hammering as he clambered desperately over the rocks to the edge of the slant with Jack, the both of them casting their torch beams down into the darkness, but they couldn't see anything through the utter blackness...

"ROSE!" Jack yelled, panicking.

"ROSE!" Jackie screamed in turn, struggling over the rocky terrain to where the Doctor was standing. "ROSE!"

They got no reply.

"This is your fault!" Jackie screamed at the Doctor, tears filling her eyes.

Suddenly the Doctor turned on her, angry and hurt with his eyes afire. "Shut up!" he yelled. "Just shut up!" Jackie looked slightly scared by his sudden change in demeanour, lapsing back into silence as the Doctor struggled over more of the rocks, balancing precariously on the slant. Please, please let her be alive... "Rose!" he called desperately. "ROSE!"

"I'm okay!" suddenly came a small voice from somewhere below, and the collective sigh of relief was audible for miles around.

"No broken bones?" the Doctor yelled down, making sure.

"No! Soft landing!" Another collective sigh.

"Can you see where you are?"

"No! My torch went out!"

"How long did you fall for?"

"I was too busy screamin' to be countin', Doctor!"

"Roughly?"

"Err... ten seconds maybe?"

The Doctor turned to Jackie and Jack, giving a roguish grin. "The only way is down," he said simply.

"What?" Jackie gawped.

"It's a quick way down," the Doctor countered.

"John's down there somewhere," Jack added, shuffling to the end of the slope. "Rose! Clear the area! We're jumping!"

"I'm not jumpin'!" Jackie practically shrieked.

"I'll jump with you," the Doctor demanded more than offered, taking her hand and guiding her to stand on the edge of the slope. "Rose?" he yelled down. "You clear?"

"Yeah!"

"Jack." The Doctor gestured to the drop.

Jack took a fortifying breath, rocking back and forth on his heels for a moment before finally launching off of the side and into the darkness in a cannonball with a yell of, "geronimo!"

The Doctor waited until Jack was clear of the landing area before he looked at Jackie, still grinning like a loon with his hand clutching her's. "Ready?" he asked.

"No!" Jackie yelped, wanting to pull away but she was too paralysed by fear to move.

"Jump in 3... 2... 1..." The Doctor launched off of the slant, dragging Jackie's reluctant hand with him. "JUUUUUMP!"

Jackie screamed and flailed desperately as she and the Doctor both plunged down in the darkness. She had to stop and take a breath from the screaming as the fall was so long, until they both finally hit an extremely bouncy surface at the bottom and bounced up about seven foot in the air before coming to a halt.

"Whew!" The Doctor grinned, exhilarated as he lay back on the bouncy surface, spread-eagled. "See, Jackie? Wasn't so bad, was it?"

"I'm gonna kill you," Jackie muttered. He just grinned in the darkness, pulling his torch out from his coat and panning it around, checking out their new surroundings.

"Oh," he muttered after a moment, frowning. "This isn't good."

"What?" Rose asked from the side.

"These are eggs," he said, indicating the bouncy surface they had landed on. In the torchlight Rose could now see their shiny white surfaces collected together in a whole, small black shapes tucked inside a jelly-like substance. "There's more than one Saeculornex. And they're breeding."

"Add another suitcase full of bad, yeah?" Rose wondered, grinning in the darkness.

The Doctor smiled, flashing the torch up to his face and nodding. "We have to find my future self. If they're breeding they'll be using him for a constant food supply, and they can take him right down to an embryo. Allons-y!" he yelled, shuffling off of the patch of eggs and onto the ground, guiding everyone else down. He quickly checked the tracker. "Not far now," he said, and then led the group out of the egg room to a small tunnel entrance set in the side of the wall.

They continued through the tunnels, clambering over stray rocks that were progressively getting more and more difficult to navigate as they moved forward.

"Careful, these are dodgy," the Doctor warned as they reached another pile of rocks. He went first with Jackie second, hauling themselves up and over the unsecured rock with only the aid of Jack and the Doctor's torch-lights.

Suddenly there was the sound of a large amount of shifting rock and the Doctor and Jackie both went completely rigid, eyes darting around frantically.

"Jack, Rose, stay back," the Doctor called quietly, balanced in his precarious position on the rock. "Jackie, get to the other side."

"What about you?" Jackie whispered, almost petrified.

"I'll be fine," he replied. "Get going."

Her breath caught in her throat, Jackie began to move painfully slowly with guidance from the Doctor's torch beam across the rocks. She shuffled her way across the stone, moving past the Doctor onto the rock in front of him.

It shifted again, but this time both the Doctor and Jackie could feel it move beneath their feet.

"Stay still!" the Doctor urged, but it was too late. The rock began to slide and it smashed into his shin, sending Jackie toppling onto him as the entire crowd of rocks began to slide and slip and fall in a definite rock slide, the Doctor and Jackie both lost in a plume of dust as Rose screamed...

It seemed to go on for an eternity.

But when it was finally over, there was only silence.

* * *

**A/N:** That cliffhanger was terrible. Very old Doctor Who style. I apologise!

_Chapter 19 – Crank It Up A Notch_

_ "We need to get John. He should be awake by now," the Doctor replied slowly and clearly. "We need to do it without them detecting us. Once John's safe... well... I haven't planned that far, yet."_

_ "Errr... guys," Jack suddenly began, pointing across the clearing where George had disappeared to. "We have a problem."_

_ For the first time the Doctor and Rose realised that besides them and the Saeculornex, there was another sound in the cave. Someone was crying. It was a baby. A baby was crying. All three of them instantly knew who it was._

_ "Okay," the Doctor breathed. "New plan."_


	19. Crank It Up A Notch

**A/N: **I can now confirm this story has 25 chapters! :D

* * *

Chapter 19 – Crank It Up A Notch

"Jackie, Jackie! Can you hear me?" the Doctor asked, leaning over the aforementioned woman with Jack and Rose hovering behind him, the latter gripping his shoulder with her nails digging in.

Jackie grunted slightly, opening her eyes to meet his gaze. He smiled reassuringly as Rose knelt down beside him, gripping her Mother's hand tightly in both of her own.

"Ow," Jackie said, and the Doctor nodded, looking at her leg that he and Jack had managed to shift the rock off of.

"I know," he said gently. "I think you've broken your leg. Just hold on a sec." He reached into his inside jacket pocket and drew out a slim silver box with a green moon on the front, tapping once on the front to make it pop open. He set it down on the floor beside her drawing out some kind on metal remote. He made to lean forward to her legs but pain shot through his side and he suddenly winced and held his ribs.

"Are you okay?" Jackie asked. He stared at her, slightly bemused.

"You're asking if I'm okay? You're delirious!" he exclaimed, giving a supportive smile. "I'm all right," he assured her, running the remote device over her leg.

"Mum, the Doctor's gonna take care of you, yeah?" Rose said urgently, still gripping her Mum's hand to blood-stopping point. "He'll fix you."

Jackie just nodded, obviously trying to ride the wave of pain pulsating out from her leg. The Doctor checked the scanner he held, and a relieved smile appeared on his face.

"It's okay, it's only a hairline fracture," he said, putting the remote back and drawing out the injection gun he had used so many times before. "This is a painkiller, it'll make your leg numb."

Jackie nodded silently as he pressed down on the trigger. Within seconds the painkiller took effect and her entire leg went completely numb.

"You can fix it, right Doctor?" Rose asked anxiously. The Doctor didn't answer for a moment, beckoning Jack over to fix a temporary bandage onto Jackie's leg before he turned to Rose.

"Easily, but I need the TARDIS..." he trailed off, glancing at Jackie. "We'll need to go back and find her."

"There's no time for that," Jackie suddenly said strongly, struggling to sit up as Jack finished bandaging her leg.

The Doctor frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Go and find John. I'll be fine."

The Doctor just gazed at her, but Rose was horrified. "What?"

"I could go..." Jack began, but Jackie was shaking her head.

"No arguments," she insisted. "Find John."

"But..." Rose began again. "What if one of these things find you?"

The Doctor reached into his jacket, pulling out his sonic screwdriver and handing it to Jackie. "Just press this button," he said, pointing in indication. "Point it at the Saeculornex. Keep it held down, even if it disappears. You should be fine until we get back."

She nodded. "Go."

"Thank you, Jackie," he said quietly. Jackie just nodded in reply, suddenly reaching up to him and hugging him.

"Be careful," she said in his ear. "And find John. You both mean a lot to me and Rose."

The Doctor nodded, pulling back and getting onto his feet as next Rose hugged her tightly, Jackie kissing her cheek. When they were done the Doctor took Rose's arm, helping her up.

"Good luck," Jackie said.

The Doctor nodded, beckoning Jack and pulling Rose's arm gently to move them forward along the tunnel away from Jackie.

* * *

"It's broken."

The words the Doctor spoke but minutes later struck metaphorical daggers into Jack and Rose's hearts as he stared down at the tracker in his palm, crushed and twisted beyond repair.

"It must've been crushed in the rockslide," the Doctor muttered, glancing at the both of them.

"... How are we gonna find John?" Rose asked, almost hesitantly.

"Garrr!" someone replied.

It took a few moments for the sound to register in the trio's minds, but then they realised. It was George! They span around to find the strange alien cat dog sitting in front of them, waggling his tail and purring contentedly.

"Where did he come from?" Jack exclaimed, completely caught off guard as Rose bounded forward to pet the small furry cat dog.

"He must've hitched a ride with John," the Doctor realised.

"Then he knows where he is!" Rose realised, a happy smile bursting onto her face as she stroked the alien cat dog affectionately. "George? Can you take us to John?" she asked, for some reason believing that he would understand English.

"Garrr!" George replied, turning and bouncing off across the rocks with complete confidence. Rose, Jack and the Doctor took one look at each other before following his lead, frantically trying to catch up over the numerous amount of rock obstacles.

He led them for about ten minutes through the endless caves, over pits and through tiny tunnels until they reached a giant opening into a huge cavern. Instantly the Doctor stopped dead in his tracks, holding out his arms to stop Rose and Jack as George bounded off across the cavern into a slice of darkness on the other side. Rose was about to question the Doctor, but then she realised where they were.

Across the cavern lay a Saeculornex in its visual form, apparently sleeping. Above it flew another, circling across the cavern as if chasing its own tail.

"Be very, very quiet," the Doctor whispered, not even turning around. "We're in their home. We're near their young. They will attack us on sight. The one flying around is frustrated and angry for some reason, that makes it even more dangerous than before."

"What do we do?" Rose asked, her voice as low as his.

"We need to get John. He should be awake by now," the Doctor replied slowly and clearly. "We need to do it without them detecting us. Once John's safe... well... I haven't planned that far, yet."

"Errr... guys," Jack suddenly began, pointing across the clearing where George had disappeared to. "We have a problem."

For the first time the Doctor and Rose realised that besides them and the Saeculornex, there was another sound in the cave. Someone was crying. It was a baby. A baby was crying. All three of them instantly knew who it was.

"Okay," the Doctor breathed. "New plan."

"I'll create a diversion," Jack said instantly, already reaching for the gun concealed within his holster. "You guys grab the baby Doctor and run."

"No," the Doctor said instantly. "I'll distract them, you two get baby John and get out. If it attacks me, keep going."

"But..." Jack began, but the Doctor was already shaking his head.

"No complaints. Allons-y!" he yelled, and before Jack or Rose had the chance to protest he ran out into the cavern, screaming and waving his arms...

* * *

**A/N:** _Chapter 20 – No Sad Faces!_

_Without a word Rose knelt down and scooped up the baby in both arms, wrapping the clothes around him tightly. The baby Doctor seemed to quieten as he stared up into her eyes, and a small smile appeared on his face._

_"Yeah, yeah! I'm here!" the Doctor was yelling on the other side, waving his arms. The Saeculornex dived around him, hissing and screaming as if waiting for the opportune moment to pounce. Jack and Rose made it back to the entrance just in time to see the Saeculornex dive for the Doctor, wings spread out, fangs pointed towards him..._

_And they plunged straight into the Doctor's chest._


	20. No Sad Faces!

Chapter 20 – No Sad Faces!

The Saeculornex was face-to-face with the Doctor within seconds. The Time Lord dutifully led the creature from the opening where Jack and Rose stood towards right side of the cavern, away from them and the baby Doctor. There was no going back.

Whilst the Doctor was being rounded on by the Saeculornex Jack and Rose both ran to the other side of the cavern where George had disappeared. Lying on a flat rock was a crying baby, the clothes that had previous fitted him now acting like giant blankets as the baby Doctor cried his eyes out.

Without a word Rose knelt down and scooped up the baby in both arms, wrapping the clothes around him tightly. The baby Doctor seemed to quieten as he stared up into her eyes, and a small smile appeared on his face.

"Yeah, yeah! I'm here!" the Doctor was yelling on the other side, waving his arms. The Saeculornex dived around him, hissing and screaming as if waiting for the opportune moment to pounce. Jack and Rose made it back to the entrance just in time to see the Saeculornex dive for the Doctor, wings spread out, fangs pointed towards him...

And they plunged straight into the Doctor's chest.

Rose gasped and Jack drew out his gun as the Doctor grunted though the pain, hanging limp but suspended in the air from the fangs plunged into his chest, the Saeculornex taking its feed...

Suddenly the creature drew back and the Doctor collapsed to the floor – but he was grinning. The Saeculornex drew back as if it'd just been hit in the face, staring at the Doctor as it groaned in what Rose and Jack could only deem to be pain.

"What have you done?" Rose asked quietly, staring at the Doctor as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Ha!" the Time Lord yelled, still grinning and seemingly completely unabashed. "Didn't like _that,_ did you?"

The creature hissed at him, spinning around in circles above his head.

"Doctor!" Rose gave the baby to Jack and ran across the clearing towards him, arms flailing. "DOCTOR!"

"Stay back! It's scared!" he yelled quickly, throwing out a hand. But it was too late. The now terrified Saeculornex took one look at the advancing Rose, and pounced.

"No!" the Doctor yelled, but Rose was already crying out with pain as she began to decrease in age. There was nothing the Doctor and Jack could do but watch as Rose seemed to shrink where she stood until the Saeculornex finally drew back and spiralled up into the air, leaving Rose's somewhat smaller body to collapse to the floor.

"Rose?" Jack yelled, still holding the baby Doctor as the older version ran over to her, pulling back her clothes from her face to reveal a pretty young girl with peroxide hair staring back up at him.

"Who are you?" she asked the Doctor, slightly scared.

"Oh no," the Doctor muttered, hand on his forehead.

"That's a weird name," she said.

"That's not..." the Doctor began, sighing. "My name's the Doctor."

Little Rose stared at him. "... That's a weird name."

The Doctor chose to ignore her. "Rose," he glanced over his shoulder to find the Saeculornex hovering next to its mate, panting and gagging. "You need to get out of here."

"Where's Mummy?" she asked as the Doctor picked her up in both arms, running with her over to Jack.

"She's close, okay? We'll see her in a minute. This is Jack," he indicated the tall dark-haired man holding a baby in front of her as he set her down on her floor. "Stick close to him."

"Mummy said not to talk to strangers," Rose said smally, hands clasped in front of her as she swayed from side to side.

"Jack," the Doctor urged the older man, vaguely pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. "She's sweet and everything but I'm trying to save the world, here."

Jack snorted with laughter. "Sure." He knelt down to Rose as the Doctor ran back across to the Saeculornex. "Hello, Rose! Remember me?"

"No," little Rose replied, staring at him. "I want my Mummy."

"We're going to find her in a minute," Jack assured her.

"Is that yours?" little Rose asked, pointing as the baby in his arms.

"No, he's not."

Rose's jaw dropped open. "Did you steal him?"

Jack laughed. "No."

Rose giggled, smiling. "Can I hold him?" she asked.

Jack grimaced. "Not really the place, Rose, but you can later, okay?"

Rose nodded eagerly, smiling her pretty little smile as she chewed on her own hair. Then she noticed the colour of it.

"Hey," she said sounding a little surprised. "Why's my hair a funny colour, Jack?"

Across the cavern the Doctor was knelt next to the Saeculornex, petting and stroking their scaly skin caringly.

"That's it," he muttered. "Go to sleep. That's it. I'll take care of you."

The once terrifying creatures now looked strangely serene as they lapsed into sleep, curled up like cats beside a fire on the stone floor. After a moment the Doctor nodded, getting up and moving over to Jack, the little Rose, George the cat dog and his baby self.

"What did you do?" Jack asked as the Doctor took Rose's hand.

"I injected myself with the same stuff I gave John," he answered, beaming. "So both of them are infected. We just need to find Jackie, find the TARDIS and take the Saeculornex to UNIT so we can secure them and get the... err... egesta."

* * *

They found the TARDIS with relative ease, picking up a very surprised Jackie on the way when a little Rose almost hugged her to death. The Doctor carried Jackie to the Infirmary where he quickly and painlessly fixed her leg as he'd promised before he made his way back to the console, leaving Jackie and Rose in the Infirmary to recuperate.

"I couldn't find any nappies," Jack said apologetically, indicating the baby Doctor he held now with a towel safety pinned around his waist in replacement of a nappy.

"It's fine," the Doctor said, taking his baby self from Jack. The baby stared up at him with quizzical brown eyes, a small tuft of brown hair on his forehead. "Hello," the Doctor said to the baby. The baby giggled.

"He likes you," Jack said, grinning.

"I should hope," the Doctor replied, laughing. After a moment he gave the baby back to Jack and moved to the console, hammering some buttons. "Now," he began, frowning slightly. "If I can get this just right..."

The column began to move, churning in dematerialisation. After a few moments it stopped and the Doctor pulled the monitor around to face him, scrutinising it. A huge smile spread onto his face. "Success!" he cried happily.

"What?" Jack asked, peering at the monitor but could make head nor tail of it.

"Materialised exactly right and put the Saeculornex in one of the TARDIS' rooms," the Doctor explained, still smiling happily. "Safe there until we-"

Suddenly the baby Doctor who had been gazing at his older self with interest burst into tears in Jack's arms, waving his little arms and legs about desperately.

"Hey, hey," Jack said instantly, cradling the baby close. "What do you want?"

"He's 'ungry!" a voice suddenly came from the doorway, the voice of Jackie Tyler now back on two feet, little Rose trailing behind her. "Give him here."

Jack handed the baby over to Jackie who kissed his forehead, hugging him tightly. "Have you got any baby milk?" she asked the Doctor, who glanced at Jack.

"Yeah, there should be some in the kitchen," he said, jerking his head in the general direction as the little Rose ran over to him, hugging his leg tightly. "The TARDIS'll take you there."

"You have baby milk?" Jack asked, utterly bemused as Jackie disappeared out the door.

The Doctor shifted uncomfortably, stroking Rose's hair seemingly automatically. "I have everything."

"Except Super Noodles," Jack said casually. "Believe me, I checked all over."

The Doctor turned away from Jack, dropping to little Rose and hugging her. "Good point," he said from over her shoulder. "We've got time. I'm hungry."

"I think that's my cue," Jack realised. The Doctor kept holding the little Rose until Jack's footsteps could no longer be heard.

The child Rose looked at the Doctor sadly as he drew away. "Don't cry," she said, reaching up to run her thumb under his eye where a tear lurked. "Don't be sad."

Ironically a five-year-old girl could read him much better than hardened ex-Time Agent trained specifically for that purpose. He didn't answer her, sighing and letting his gaze drop to the floor. Within moments Rose's head appeared in his field of vision, smiling at him.

"Happy face," she said. The Doctor laughed, and the girl giggled with him. She threw out her arms for a hug and he obliged, and they remained like that for a good while.

* * *

**A/N: **I like playing the baby card on him, don't I? Ah well... :D

_Chapter 21 - Re-pee-tedly_

_"Well change his nappy, then!" she said as though Jack were an idiot, throwing an unused nappy at Jack's head before leaving the room again. Jack sighed, laying the baby Doctor down on a towel on the bed before picking up the nappy from the floor._

_"I can't remember how to do this," Jack admitted, frowning as he stared down at the baby._

_"You're on your own," the Doctor replied, shrugging his shoulders._

_"Thanks for the help," Jack said sarcastically, tentatively reaching forward to take off the sodden nappy. The second it had come off the baby Doctor giggled and pee erupted from the him straight into Jack's face._

_"Agh!" Jack yelled, jumping back with his hands over his face. The Doctor burst out laughing, his hand on his stomach as he doubled over struggling to breathe through the laughter as the phone started ringing in the background._

_"You knew that was gonna happen didn't you!" Jack accused the Doctor, who was still busy laughing his head off._


	21. Repeetedly

**A/N: **I've been having some computer issues meaning I actually no longer have my own functioning computer - which is a total blow for me, I just have one chapter left to write and I'm gonna have to steal computers for a while and do bits and bobs of it. I'll keep trying to post every two days.

* * *

Chapter 21 - Re-pee-tedly

"Right!" was the Doctor's first word as he stepped out of the TARDIS doors into UNIT central, surrounded by technology and random beeping from computer terminals where many people sat like air traffic control. "I've got a couple of age-digesting creatures in my largest bathroom..."

"Doctor?" the Brigadier asked, surprised as he looked up from a computer terminal.

"Brigadier?" the Doctor realised in surprise. "Good to see ya, big fella!" he said delightedly, leaping forward to envelop the man in a big friendly hug.

"Hello, Doctor," the Brigadier said, completely squashed. "You've grown."

The Doctor paused, drawing back and scratching behind his ear nervously. "Err, well, not exactly."

As if on cue Jack came stepping out the TARDIS, holding the baby Doctor, followed by Jackie with a little Rose hiding behind her legs.

"Ah," the Brigadier said instantly.

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah. But I've got the de-aging creatures in my bathroom and I would quite like my jacuzzi back."

"What's your plan?"

"Well, I was kind of hoping UNIT would have a way to secure them and, well, obtain the cure."

"Hmm?" the Brigadier asked.

Jack grinned. "You're gonna love this."

"Y'see Brigadier," the Doctor wrapped his arm around the Brigadier's shoulders, maintaining a confidential air. "I'll be frank. You're gonna have to do a bit of, err, wading through alien faeces."

"I see," the Brigadier said.

"I've infected them with a strain of Gastroenteritis, and what they vomit and poo is the cure. Everyone who's been affected by the Saeculornex is going to need a diluted injection of it. Then I'm not sure exactly what'll happen, but the theory is everyone will grow up fast and be back to normal in a few days."

"I see," the Brigadier said again.

"The first injection should go on myself..." He gestured in the direction of the baby in Jack's arms. "To see if it does the job. There might be a few side effects, headaches, muscle ache, stuff like that, and triple speed puberty probably won't be pleasant."

"I... see," the Brigadier repeated once more, frowning slightly.

"So!" the Doctor drew back, clapping his hands together excitedly. "Where should I drop them off?"

* * *

It was 3am in the Tyler household and once again the baby Doctor was crying; screaming his little lungs out. He had been fully fed, he'd had a nappy change and given all the attention in the world by an overbearing Jackie Tyler, yet he was still crying. Jackie was hugging him tightly, trying to calm him down, but he just kept on crying.

"Maybe he's teethin'?" Jackie suggested tiredly, but the Doctor was shaking his head as he moved forward to take the boy out of her arms into his own.

"Je'e ce nim?" the Doctor suddenly said, rocking back and forth his tiny self. "E'i hi iloa'on."

"The translation circuit's gone," Jack realised, looking at the Doctor.

The full-grown Time Lord nodded, reverting back to English. "He's too young for the TARDIS to telepathically connect with, she can't make the circuit." He looked back at the child, still in the midst of crying. The Doctor looked strangely anxious. "Naqu, gahi y je'eon via?" he asked the baby, then paused.

"What did you say?" Jack asked.

"If he needs anything," the Doctor replied, still watching the infant intently.

"Can he talk?" Jackie wondered.

The Doctor suddenly sighed and leant back against the sofa, still with a crying baby in his arms. "I don't know... I wasn't womb-born, I was never this age..."

"Mummy?" suddenly came a voice from the doorway and the three adults turned to find little Rose hovering in the room in pyjamas, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Oh I'm sorry, love," Jackie said instantly, beckoning her over for a hug. Little Rose hopped up onto the sofa next to Jackie, hugging her tightly as she stared at the baby in the Doctor's arms.

"Sorry, Rose," the Doctor said apologetically. "We don't know what's making him cry."

Little Rose stared at the baby for a moment, before jumping off of the sofa her Mum was one and bouncing up onto the Doctor's.

"Can I hold him please?" she asked, looking at the Doctor hopefully. Jackie was already shaking her head, but a thought struck the Doctor.

"Wait, yes," he said, encouraging her to sit on his lap. He lowered the baby Doctor into her arms, supporting him underneath as she wrapped her arms around the infant. The baby Doctor cried a little more before he opened his eyes to look at little Rose, and suddenly quietened.

The big Doctor grinned. "There we go."

The baby Doctor smiled up at Rose, before his eyes slipped closed and he fell asleep.

"Awww," little Rose said happily, smiling. "Can we keep him?"

Jack snorted as Jackie smiled. "He's with us for a few days yet, sweetheart," she answered gently as she stood up, taking the sleeping baby carefully from the Doctor and little Rose. "Bedtime for someone! Doctor, can you take Rose to bed?"

The Doctor nodded, scooping up the little Rose and carrying her out of the living room into her bedroom. He laid her down and tucked her in gently before Rose reached up to hug him, to which he obliged.

"Can I have a story, please?" little Rose asked politely.

The Doctor blinked. "Err... what would you like a story about?"

"A princess!" Rose replied happily.

"Err, okay..." the Doctor paused for a moment, thinking. "Ah! Once upon a time there lived a princess called Rose, who lived in the magical kingdom of... Powell Estatania. But life for the princess was not all balls and glitter, she was forced to work in Henriks... I mean, her evil step mother's house, where they made her work all day with no breaks until her hands were sore. She wanted another life, a life where she could live free and happy. Suddenly one day an evil exploding demon appeared in her step mother's house, and the princess was terrified for her own life. But just on the outskirts of Powell Estatania appeared a handsome prince, riding through the kingdom on his travels."

The Doctor grinned. "Dashing man, he was, wearing a coat of leather and wielding a sword of gold. He saw the princess was in danger, and in one fell swoop he killed the evil exploding demon once and for all because he was so brilliant at everything. The princess thanked the prince dearly, but the story is not over yet. The prince thought the princess was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and he saw a spark in her eyes. He asked the princess to accompany him on his travels of the land. The village idiot, Mickey, tried to stop the princess from going but the princess wasn't listening, allured by the prince's promises of a new and better life. She climbed onto the prince's horse and together they rode off into the sunset, and they all lived happily ever after. Well, relatively."

The Doctor looked down at little Rose, only to find her fast asleep. He grinned and leant forward, making sure she was tucked in before pressing a kiss to her forehead. He flicked off the bedside light and turned to the doorway, surprised to find Jackie standing there, arms folded, a smile on her face.

"Lovely story," she said.

The Doctor turned red, hastily slipping past her back into the sitting room.

* * *

"He's peed all over me!" was the first thing Jack said the next morning as the Doctor walked into the spare room where his baby self was being kept. He found Jack standing next to the temporary cot holding the baby at arm's length, a strange wet substance covering the front of Jack and the bottom of the baby's nappy.

The Doctor laughed. "He knows his enemies," he said, still laughing as Jackie walked into the room next, observing the situation.

"Well change his nappy, then!" she said as though Jack were an idiot, throwing an unused nappy at Jack's head before leaving the room again. Jack sighed, laying the baby Doctor down on a towel on the bed before picking up the nappy from the floor.

"I can't remember how to do this," Jack admitted, frowning as he stared down at the baby.

"You're on your own," the Doctor replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Thanks for the help," Jack said sarcastically, tentatively reaching forward to take off the sodden nappy. The second it had come off the baby Doctor giggled and pee erupted from him straight into Jack's face.

"Agh!" Jack yelled, jumping back with his hands over his face. The Doctor burst out laughing, his hand on his stomach as he doubled over struggling to breathe through the laughter as the phone started ringing in the background.

"You knew that was gonna happen didn't you!" Jack accused the Doctor, who was still busy laughing his head off.

"Doctor, it's for you... what the hell is goin' on in here?" Both men turned to find Jackie in the doorway again, holding the phone and staring at the now very wet Jack. The Doctor snorted with laughter again as he took the phone from Jackie and left the room, leaving them to it.

"Hello?" he asked down the phone.

"What are you tryin' to do?" Jackie's voice yelled in the background.

_"Hello, Doctor," _the Brigadier's voice was loud and clear. _"We've seen the first signs of egesta from the creatures and have an injection ready."_

"Change his nappy!" Jack yelled back in reply.

"Good, thank you, I'll be at UNIT in the TARDIS in about ten minutes," the Doctor replied, struggling not to laugh.

"Well you're not doing a very good job are you!" Jackie yelled back.

_"See you then, Doctor... What is going on there?"_

"I'm trying! He peed in my face!"

The Doctor snorted again. "Jack's learning how to change a nappy."

"Well that's what boy's do!"

"Pee in your face?"

_ "I see," _the Brigadier replied in the same way he had before. _"See you then, Doctor."_

"Let me do it! You're useless!"

"Well good luck!"

"See you in ten, Brigadier," the Doctor said, and hung up the phone. He walked back over to the spare room, finding Jack, still drenched, standing by the doorway as Jackie expertly change the baby Doctor's nappy. Pee erupted once again, but Jackie held the nappy up to shield herself.

"How much urine do you _have_ in there, Doctor?" Jack commented, disgusted before the baby Doctor finally stopped peeing.

"Apparently a lot," the Doctor replied, shrugging. "UNIT have the injection ready, we've gotta go to UNIT to give him it," he continued, pointing at the baby still giggling in the middle of the bed. Jackie fixed on a new nappy and picked up the baby Doctor, cradling him in her arms. She handed the child to the Doctor.

"I'll go and get Rose ready," Jackie said, making towards the door.

"I'll clean up," Jack muttered with a sigh, turning to leave the room so it was only the Doctor and his baby self left, who stared up at him happily.

There was a slight pause as the Doctor thought of what to say, the moment awkward. Finally, finding nothing to say, he sighed, turning silently and heading towards the living room to wait for Jackie, Rose and Jack.

_

* * *

_

**A/N: **For part two of the Prince and Princess story, see Ramble 4 :P

_Chapter 22 – Hello, John! Again!_

_ "Mama!" John suddenly said, looking at Jackie, holding out his arms to her._

_ The Doctor looked horrified. "No! Not Mama! That's not Mama."_

_ "Dada!" the toddler said, looking next at Jack._

_ "That's not Dada!" the Doctor protested desperately, but no one, toddler or adult seemed to be listening to him._

_ "Aww that's right, love," Jackie said, ruffling the boy's wild brown hair that had quite severely grown in the past few days so much it was started to come down over his ears. "Mama's here."_

_ "No she's not!" the Doctor squeaked._


	22. Hello, John! Again!

Chapter 22 – Hello, John! Again!

"Has this been diluted exactly how I told you?" The Doctor peered a the syringe given to him in a tray, filled with a vile-looking brown liquid.

"Yes sir," Captain Harcombe answered promptly with a salute.

"That's enough with the sir. Jackie, can you hold John in place, please?" the Doctor asked politely, lifting the syringe off of the tray and squirting a bit out the end, tapping it on the side to get the measured amount.

"And this is safe, right? It'll work?" Jackie asked, placing the baby to sit down in front of the Doctor, holding him gently in place.

The Doctor pulled a face. "Well, there's no reason why it shouldn't..."

Jackie pulled back the baby Doctor instantly, staring at the Doctor with narrow eyes.

"I mean," the Doctor began hastily. "Yes it will work and it's completely safe."

Jackie sighed, setting the baby back down on the table. The baby Doctor waved his little arms about in Jackie's grip, giggling he looked up at the Doctor standing above him, syringe in hand.

"Okay, really sorry, but you know I have to do this," the Doctor muttered to the baby, somehow feeling the need to apologise. Jackie held the baby Doctor in place as Jack held his arm. The Doctor lowered the point of the syringe to the baby's arm and carefully punctured the skin. The baby Doctor instantly began to cry, but Jack held his arm rigid and Jackie stared into his eyes, calming him down as she had calmed Rose when she'd needed her injections.

In a few seconds the substance was injected and the Doctor pulled out the syringe, placing cotton wool over the injection site. The baby Doctor cried profusely before Jackie picked him up, holding him close and kissing his forehead.

"There, there, love," she said gently. "It's over now."

Jack glanced at the Doctor, who was just staring at his baby self with a frown... apparently waiting for something. But whatever it was, it didn't come. The baby Doctor continued to wail like a foghorn, tears pouring down his face before the Doctor could take it no longer and turned to Captain Harcombe.

"We're going to need to check his height, weight, BMI, organ, bone and brain development every eight hours to study the growth rate!" he practically yelled over the noise. "Don't suppose you lot have a crèche?"

* * *

"Bah bah bah!" the toddler Doctor said loudly, clapping his hands together gleefully as the Doctor tried in vain to measure his growth rate.

"No, no," the Doctor was saying, incredibly frustrated as he tried to hold the boy down. "Lie still!"

"Boo bah ga doo!" the toddler said indignantly, glaring at the Doctor.

It had taken a few days until a visible difference of growth had appeared in the baby Doctor, under continual UNIT observation. Every eight hours they took him to the medical room where the Doctor would check he was growing correctly, monitoring his health. After a week the baby Doctor had turned into a toddler, and an incredibly annoying one at that.

"How's my little John?" Jackie's voice suddenly came from the doorway and the Doctor looked up to see her coming into the medical room with Jack beside her, holding little Rose's hand.

"He's grown another couple of inches since yesterday, at least, I think he has," the Doctor replied airily as John continued to make the entire process as difficult as possible for him.

"Mama!" John suddenly said, looking at Jackie, holding out his arms to her.

The Doctor looked horrified. "No! Not Mama! That's not Mama."

"Dada!" the toddler said, looking next at Jack.

"That's not Dada!" the Doctor protested desperately, but no one, toddler or adult seemed to be listening to him.

"Aww that's right, love," Jackie said, ruffling the boy's wild brown hair that had quite severely grown in the past few days so much it was started to come down over his ears. "Mama's here."

"No she's not!" the Doctor squeaked.

"Aww, his first word was Mama!" Jackie exclaimed, picking up the toddler and hugging him tightly. "I'm so proud of you! You're such a clever little boy, aren't you? Aren't you? Goochy goo!"

"Oh please," the Doctor muttered, hand on his head in despair.

"Next week he'll be reciting Shakespeare!" Jack insisted, lifting up the little Rose to sit on the examination table.

"Next week he'll be learning to dress himself," the Doctor corrected, taking the boy out of Jackie's arms and placing him on the table again next to little Rose.

"Wose," the boy said, staring at the girl with a smile on his face. "Wose!"

Rose giggled and hugged him tightly before the Doctor force the boy to lie down. After what seemed like hours he finally managed to measure what he needed, and turned to the computer behind him.

"Is he growin' okay?" Jackie asked, moving to peek over the Doctor's shoulder as he tapped the keyboard, Jack joining them.

"Seems okay so far," the Doctor replied, indicating the graph on screen. "Seems it was slow to start with but as the cure reaches more parts of his body and becomes absorbed he starts growing faster. At this rate when the cure has done all it can he should stop growing instantly, and be instantly ready to have the next injection. But everything seems to be growing at the same rate so there's no problems there..."

Behind them on the table the toddler Doctor was bum shuffling across the surface, obviously trying to show off to Rose. He looked at her and grinned a toothless grin before continuing towards the side of the table...

"No, John!" Rose suddenly yelled grabbing him in both arms as he neared the side. He looked startled, but not as much as the Doctor, Jack and Jackie who spun around in surprise to find the little Rose had stopped him falling over the side.

"Bah bah," the toddler cried indignantly.

"You nearly fell!" little Rose said, guiding him away from the side. "Don't do that, you'll get hurt."

Jackie was already in full Mother mode. "John!" she shrieked and dived for the toddler, kissing him on the forehead. "That's dangerous," she shouted, angered by her terror. "Never do that again, you hear me?"

The toddler stared at her for a moment, before finally bursting into tears.

Jackie blinked in surprise. "Oh I'm sorry sweetheart," she said quickly. "I didn't mean to shout at you."

He continued to cry. Jackie gathered him up in her arms again, soothing him before she turned to the Doctor, anger plain on her face.

"You should've been watchin' him!" she yelled at the Doctor, somewhat hypocritically, he thought. "I'm takin' him back to bed."

Within moments she was out the door. There was a slight pause before Jack lifted a hand and rested it on the Doctor's shoulder in comfort. "Don't cry, Doc," he said, a small smile threatening to erupt from the corner of his mouth. The Doctor glared at him, turning around and hammering the buttons on the keyboard, slightly harder than before.

* * *

"John. STAY. STILL."

"Can I go play with Rose, now?"

"After this! Stay still!"

John kicked his heels against the side of the metal table, arms folded, evidently bored.

A week had gone by in the UNIT HQ since the baby Doctor had been injected and in that time he had learnt to walk (albeit with quite a few falls and tears) and had quite quickly grasped the English language from the people that surrounded him. Pretty soon he had grown back into the energetic five-year-old that had started this all off, and stopped growing.

After a moment the Doctor finally drew back from John, and noted something down on his clipboard.

"Can I go now?" John asked eagerly.

The Doctor sighed. "Yes!"

"Thank you!" the boy said politely before jumping off of the table and running out of the door, almost running into Jack coming the other way.

"Whoa!" Jack exclaimed, grabbing him before he fell. "Careful where you're running!"

"Sorry, Jack," John said instantly before tearing away from his grip and running down the corridor, disappearing out of sight. Jack grinned, walking into the medical room where the Doctor was sat at the desk, the end of his pen in his mouth and his hand raking through his hair, evidently thinking hard.

"Doctor..." Jack began, but the Doctor quickly held up a hand, his eyes screwed closed as his mouth moved wordlessly. Suddenly they snapped open and he scribbled something down on the paper before he turned to Jack.

"What is it?"

"I've been thinking about when you go back to the past," Jack said. "If you need a memory wipe I could whip up some retcon..."

"No need," the Doctor said, leaning casually back in the chair. "I think I'm supposed to remember all this."

"What?"

"How else would I know to ask you to get my past self? And make all the gadgets and liquids I did?" the Doctor asked seriously. "That IV fluid... There's no way I would've been clever enough to think that up, especially with all that suppressed knowledge in a child's mind. Not even I could think of making that as I am now without a little help."

Jack's eyes widened in realisation. "That's why you didn't tell us you were sick. And when you said 'coming'..."

The Doctor nodded. "Did all this happen directly after Eploxna?"

"Yeah," Jack replied. "After you disappeared in the market we hung around in the TARDIS, then after a few minutes you showed up saying it was time Rose saw her Mum. We landed, me and Rose went out but you stayed inside the TARDIS. You came into the flat a few minutes later. A bit after that you collapsed."

The Doctor nodded again. "Nice little soft timeloop!" he said with grin. "They're so fun and perfect."

"So what happens now?" Jack asked, looking directly at the paper the Doctor had been writing on. "What's that?"

"The measured amounts of egesta needed to cure Earth's population," the Doctor replied. "I give this to the Brigadier, measure out some amounts for Rose and John; in a few days the Saeculornex should be back to health and I'll take them a few solar systems away from Earth. They won't be back."

Jack nodded. "And what about Rose and John?"

"They can go home after I give them the second injection," the Doctor answered. "Better to be in the flat than here. All their experiences here are going to have repercussions for them when they're back to normal age. I'll just make sure you have enough of the cure to get them back to how they were."

"Doctor! Jack!" Two children suddenly appeared in the doorway, Rose and John, holding hands.

"We're gonna play a game," little Rose said. "Do you want to play with us?"

"Sure, why not?" the Doctor replied, grinning as he got to his feet.

"Yeah, I'm in," Jack affirmed. "What is it?"

"FOOTBALL!" John yelled, punching the air with the hand not holding Rose's, a big stupid grin on his face.

"Hey, your favourite!" the Doctor exclaimed, staring at Jack with a sly smile.

"Yeah..." Jack muttered, less than enthusiastically.

* * *

**A/N: **_Chapter 23 – Fun and Perfect Timeloops_

_"WOW!" a voice suddenly yelled from the TARDIS doorway and the Saeculornex panicked, backing away quickly from the Doctor._

_"John!" the Doctor yelled angrily, gesturing back towards the door. "Get back in the TARDIS!"_

_Jack quickly ran over to the five-year-old Doctor, ushering him back into the blue box. The Saeculornex was screeching behind the Doctor, but before he had the chance to turn something suddenly hit his back. He cried out in surprise and pain, stumbling forward and falling to the ground. _


	23. Fun and Perfect Timeloops

Chapter 23 – Fun and Perfect Timeloops

"What does that button do?" the little Doctor asked the Brigadier in the UNIT control room a few hours later, pointing at a button mounted on a control panel.

"Something very dangerous, young man," the Brigadier replied seriously.

"Oh," the little Doctor said, still gazing at the button. "Can I press it?"

Before the Brigadier had a chance to reply the Doctor strolled into the control room, covered head-to-toe in mud. "John!"

"Uh oh," the little Doctor muttered, diving behind the Brigadier and peeking out from the side at the Doctor.

"Ah, Doctor," the Brigadier greeted. "How is Jack?"

"He'll live," the Doctor replied, grinning. "John!" The latter was the the boy still hiding behind the Brigadier, trying in vain not to be seen. The Doctor strode forward and took his arm, pulling him out into the open.

"I didn't do it!" the child said instantly as the Doctor knelt down in front of him, gazing into his eyes.

"You know, I was _there_, John."

"I'm sorry!" he squeaked.

"I think you need save that apology for Jack," the Doctor said seriously. "You know he has a mild concussion now, right?"

"He cheated!" the boy protested.

"That's no reason to treat him the way you did."

"I'm sorry," the boy said again, looking insanely guilty.

"It's a bad thing to do what you did," the Doctor continued. "Even if they are lowdown dirty cheaters that probably deserve it."

"Okay," the boy replied.

"Now come on, you need to apologise to him, and I think Jackie needs to give you a bath. And don't think that's a sentence I'm yet comfortable with saying." The Doctor took the boy's hand and pulled him across the control room in the direction of the TARDIS. John waved goodbye to the Brigadier, who waved back as John disappeared out into the corridor.

* * *

"Have you been causin' trouble?" Jackie asked the boy sternly as soon as the Doctor and John arrived in the doorway to the TARDIS Infirmary, her hands on hips and staring at the little Doctor in disapproval.

"I didn't do it," the boy said instantly. The Doctor rolled his eyes and led the boy past Jackie into the Infirmary where Jack was lying on a bed, covered in mud and bruised everywhere.

"Now say sorry to Jack," the Doctor said to the boy, guiding him to stand next to the bed.

"I'm sorry, Jack," the boy muttered, staring at the floor.

"For what?" Jackie prompted the boy.

"For kicking the ball at your head, calling you a filthy cheater and getting Rose to help me kick and punch you when you were down," the boy murmured, still staring at the ground.

"That's okay," Jack replied.

"Can I go play, now?" the boy asked hopefully.

"Bath time for you!" Jackie said, scooping him up in both arms. "And don't think I'm not angry at you!"

"I'm sorry," the boy said for the fourth time in ten minutes, gazing up at Jackie innocently. It melted Jackie's heart and her face burst into a smile.

"Awww, sweetheart," Jackie said, kissing his cheek. "I can't stay mad at you!"

"That makes a change," the Doctor muttered under his breath.

"What?" Jackie asked.

"Nothing!" the Doctor replied, smiling innocently.

"Come on then, John," Jackie said, carrying him out of the Infirmary and to the nearest bathroom.

The Doctor turned back to Jack, shrugging apologetically. "Sorry about him."

"Yeah, because you're totally innocent," Jack said sarcastically, grinning.

"I did all I could..."

"You were laughing your head off."

The Doctor snorted at the memory, unable to control himself. "I did all I could," he repeated. "Anyway, I've got important world-saving things to do. Like having a shower."

* * *

"I don't want an injection!" John yelled, struggling in Jackie's grip as she tried to hold him down on the examination table. "I don't want it!"

"You have to have it!" Jackie insisted.

"How come Rose isn't having one?" John protested, still struggling. "This isn't fair!"

"She _is _having one!" Jackie replied, struggling as the Doctor neared with a syringe, little Rose sat calmly on the table beside him, kicking her heels against the side.

"Why can't she go first?"

"Sit _down_, John!" Jackie implored, thoroughly aggravated now.

"John," the Doctor sat down next to him, holding the syringe in front of him. "You sure you don't want this injection?"

John nodded so quickly the Doctor thought his neck might break.

"Really sure?" the Doctor said with a sad expression. John nodded again. "Okay," the Doctor continued with a sigh. "You won't have it then." He got onto his feet, moving over to Rose. "Oh John, I didn't have you marked as a wuss!"

John blinked. "What? I'm not a wuss!"

"Well it seems you are," the Doctor continued, taking Rose's arm. "Look at Rose, she's a lot braver than you are." Rose looked at John, grinning with pride.

"I'm brave! Really brave!" the boy yelled, angry. "Braver than Rose! Give me it!"

The Doctor looked mock surprised as Jackie smiled in the background. "Oh, but I thought you were a wuss!"

John threw out his arm, a determined expression on his face. "I'm not! I'm brave and clever!"

"So you want it now?" the Doctor asked, moving back over to him. "I'm afraid you'll start crying."

John's jaw dropped. "I won't! I don't cry!"

"Fine then," the Doctor said, taking a seat next to him and taking his arm. "You sure you won't cry?"

"Stop saying I'll cry!" John yelled.

"Okay, relax your arm," the Doctor said, lowering the point of the needle to John's arm. In seconds it was over and John beamed.

"See! I didn't cry!" he said happily.

"Well done sweetheart!" Jackie said happily, hugging him tightly as the Doctor jumped up of off the table and began to prepare Rose's injection. "You were so brave!"

"I know!" John said, grinning. "Wait till I tell Jack!" He jumped down off of the table.

"No, err, wait, you might want to…" the Doctor began quickly, but never got to finish it as John staggered to the side, confused and disorientated before he finally collapsed onto the floor. "… Lie down," the Doctor finished pointlessly as Jackie ran over to John, utterly hysterical. "Concentrated dose," the Doctor explained before Jackie could start yelling at him. "Made him dizzy, he'll need to lie down for a while."

"I don't feel well," the boy muttered up at Jackie, blinking slightly.

"Take him to a bed in the Infirmary," the Doctor instructed Jackie. "Make sure he _stays _there. I'll look after Rose," he added on the end when he caught her expression.

"Are you gonna be okay without me, sweetheart?" Jackie asked Rose, who nodded, a big smile on her face. "Good, c'mon then, John," Jackie picked the disorientated boy up off of the floor and carried him out the door.

The Doctor sighed in bemusement, walking over to Rose and sitting next to her. "Promise me something, would you, Rose? Look after him. He needs someone to tell him what to do… And you were always something special."

She nodded wordlessly.

"You ready, then?" the Doctor asked, holding up the needle.

She paused for a moment, and then nodded again.

"Scared?" the Doctor asked.

She paused, and then nodded for the third time.

"S'alright," he continued, setting the needle down on the table and extending his hand to her. "Just hold my hand until you're ready."

She obediently took his hand, now so tiny in his. Yet somehow it was still a perfect fit.

* * *

"Perfect!" the Doctor yelled, yanking a lever down on the console, stumbling backwards when it came off in his hand. "Oh," he muttered, staring at the broken piece of the console in his hand. "Fix that later." He threw it over his shoulder and resumed his previous demeanour, clapping his hands together excitedly.

"Where are we?" Jack asked, peering at the monitor.

"Plant Orixion in the Rozux system, otherwise known as Perli 87," the Doctor replied happily. "A nice new planet for the Saeculornex to live out their life. And the best thing? The entire population are over reproductive age, they're dying out."

"That's genius," Jack said in realisation, eyes wide.

The Doctor grinned, nodding. "The Saeculornex can eat and the population can go back down to reproductive age. They can start again." And with that he sped towards the door, flinging it open and stepping out in a dense forest. Jack followed, finding the Saeculornex just next to the TARDIS, getting up and stretching their wings. The Doctor made a few slow, bold steps forward to the creatures. One of them took a step forward to him, lowering its head to his height.

"There you go," he said gently, reaching out a hand and carefully stroking the Saeculornex's head. It almost seemed to purr. Utter silence gripped the group as the Doctor touched the creature – for all the trouble it had caused it was still a beautiful piece of evolution and, completely belonged in this place of serenity and beauty.

"WOW!" a voice suddenly yelled from the TARDIS doorway and the Saeculornex panicked, backing away quickly from the Doctor.

"John!" the Doctor yelled angrily, gesturing back towards the door. "Get back in the TARDIS!"

Jack quickly ran over to the five-year-old Doctor, ushering him back into the blue box. The Saeculornex was screeching behind the Doctor, but before he had the chance to turn something suddenly hit his back. He cried out in surprise and pain, stumbling forward and falling to the ground. He flipped over just time to find both of the creatures spiralling up into the air and flying off across the landscape in a panic.

"Doctor!" Jack yelled, running over to him. "You alright?"

He grunted, pain irradiating from his back as he tried desperately to reach whatever was causing the problem. Jack finally took heed and checked his back, pulling something out…

It was a black dart.

"This is it," Jack realised staring at the dart. "This is what started it."

"Help me," the Doctor gasped, holding up his arms to Jack. Jack slung one over his shoulder, trying to ignore the Doctor's cries as he bodily dragged him through the double blue doors.

* * *

**A/N: **_Chapter 24 – Quite A Long Chapter_

_As Jack rushed over to get it Jackie appeared in the Infirmary doorway, Rose and John standing by her side. John was biting his lip, staring at the Doctor with a shear sense of guilt._

_"This is my fault," he muttered._

_Jackie looked down at him, seeing him staring at the Doctor writhing on the bed. She dropped down and pulled him to face her, giving him a reassuring smile._

_"It wasn't your fault, love," she said gently, stroking his cheek. Tears were welling in his eyes before they disconnected with her's to look at the floor. But suddenly they snapped up again at the sound the Doctor crying out in agony, his arms covering his head. Jack was dabbing something with a cotton wool onto the Doctor's wound. Within seconds John had torn out of Jackie's grip and had disappeared out of the door._

_"John!" Jackie called out after him, but he was gone._


	24. Quite A Long Chapter

Chapter 24 – Quite A Long Chapter

"What 'appened?" Jackie gasped as Jack dragged in the Doctor over to the pilot seat.

"He got shot by one of those darts!" Jack grunted under the strain of supporting the Doctor, helping him down into the pilot seat where the Doctor probably would've fallen off if Jackie hadn't caught him.

"What do we do?" Jackie yelped, panicking as the Doctor fell a little more onto her.

"Infirmary…" the Doctor gasped. "Meds to… slow it down… allergic…"

"Right!" Jack grabbed the Doctor in both arms and ran with him to the Infirmary, bursting through the doors and depositing the Doctor on a bed.

"What d'you need?" Jack asked quickly as the Doctor writhed on the bed gasping in pain.

"Med cupboard..." the Doctor panted. "Green... bottle..."

As Jack rushed over to get it Jackie appeared in the Infirmary doorway, Rose and John standing by her side. John was biting his lip, staring at the Doctor with a shear sense of guilt.

"This is my fault," he muttered.

Jackie looked down at him, seeing him staring at the Doctor writhing on the bed. She dropped down and pulled him to face her, giving him a reassuring smile.

"It wasn't your fault, love," she said gently, stroking his cheek. Tears were welling in his eyes before they disconnected with her's to look at the floor. But suddenly they snapped up again at the sound the Doctor crying out in agony, his arms covering his head. Jack was dabbing something with a cotton wool onto the Doctor's wound. Within seconds John had torn out of Jackie's grip and had disappeared out of the door.

"John!" Jackie called out after him, but he was gone.

"Jackie, gimme a hand!" Jack called and she rushed over to him, trying to comfort the Doctor in anyway possible. After a few more minutes of dabbing the Doctor stopped him with a grunt, holding up his hand.

"We need to... to go back to... Eploxna," the Doctor gasped, trying to push himself up. "To complete... the... the timeloop..."

"Can you fly the TARDIS?" Jack asked anxiously helping him back into his shirt.

"Meds... not... kicked in... yet... five... minutes... too late..." the Doctor grunted.

"We need John!" Jackie realised.

"He's... the only... one..." the Doctor panted as Jack pulled him, now fully dressed to stand up, leaning heavily on him. "Quick..."

It was a race against time as Jack and Jackie dragged the Doctor to the console room, hoping and praying that John hadn't run far.

* * *

John had run through the corridors of the TARDIS, tears pouring from his eyes. He hadn't exactly known where he had been going but that didn't matter. He had run as fast as he could, away from the Infirmary, away from the screaming Doctor and the accusing eyes of Jackie, Jack and Rose. He had run until he could run no longer, stopping and panting, just in front of a giant wooden door. He paused, looking up to the handle. It cried to be opened...

He reached up and pushed it, the door swinging inwards to reveal a giant white room in the shape of a dome. He pushed the door quietly closed, his cheeks still wet from the tears as he made forward towards the centre, absolutely terrified but for some reason comforted.

He sat down in the middle. Laid down. He stared up at the domed ceiling above his head, and to his complete surprise he found it wasn't white anymore.

The stars. The stars were twinkling above him. He knew all their names.

Suddenly the stars faded, replaced by a landscape he recognised. It was Gallifrey. The red grass on the ground was capped by snow, mountains in the distance stretching off into eternity as the second sun rose to catch the silver leaves on the trees. A forest on fire.

The TARDIS asked John if he wanted to see more. He nodded. He saw the Time Lords going about their daily business in the Citadel, busy men with busy lives. As the light from the suns died so did the flurry of people, slowly going back to the homes from whence they came.

Then the light was gone, replaced once again by the stars. And he could hear a voice.  
_  
"Have you ever thought what it's like to be wanderers in the fourth dimension? Have you?... To be exiles? Susan and I are cut off from our own planet, without friends or protection. But one day we shall get back. Yes, one day. One day..."  
_  
Above him he could see flashes of faces, and he seemed to recognised them all... It finally froze on a particular face.

"Susan?" he asked, his voice breaking for reasons he didn't quite know.  
_  
"Grandfather!"_

Then she was gone. More faces, more places flashed up, but somehow they all made sense despite their random, unconstructed pattern. It suddenly stropped on a small, black-haired man.

_"The Time Lords are an immensely civilised race. We can control our own environment - we can live forever, barring accidents and we have the secret of space/time travel..."_

Next came a man, all teeth and curls, wearing a long scarf that John thought he could probably wrap around himself like a cocoon.

_"There's no point being grown-up if you can't be childish sometimes."_

An older man this time, a shock of white hair, a bow tie and a velvet jacket.

_"Courage isn't just a matter of not being afraid. It's being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway."_

A youthful man now, blond hair and a stick of celery in his breast pocket. John couldn't help but giggle at it.

_"For some people, small, beautiful events is what life is all about."_

A man with blond curly hair, an extremely brightly coloured jacket that seemed to be an explosion in a paint factory.

_"Planets come and go. Stars perish. Matter disperses, coalesces, forms into other patterns, other worlds. Nothing can be eternal."_

The TARDIS asked him if he wanted to see more. He nodded again.

_"A tear, Sarah Jane?"_ The man with the velvet jacket and white hair asked. _"No, don't cry. While there's life, there's..."_

All fell silent as the image of the man died, replaced once again by the man with the scarf as a warm glow suddenly appeared in his chest.  
_  
"It's the end... but the moment has been prepared for..."_

A new man this time. A man with a leather jacket and short brown hair, clutching his wrist to his chest.  
_  
"Rose... before I go, I just want to tell you... you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. And do you know what? So was I!"_

Everything faded to black before the man with the bright jacket spoke again in a explosion of colour.

_"... You were expecting someone else?"_

The warmth inside John's chest died before a new man flashed up. It was him. The Doctor. Still with the same pinstriped brown suit, his hair a complete mess.  
_  
"New-new Doctor." _

Images were colliding in front of his eyes... Daleks, Cybermen, Silurians, Draconians... the infinite majesty of time and space was a movie in front of his eyes, and he'd seen it all.

_"I think my idea is better."_

_"Why can't you leave me alone?"_

_"Glub glub glub..."_

_"Would you like a jelly baby?"_

_"Well now I know you're mad, I just wanted to make certain."_

_"I reversed the polarity of the neutron flow."_

_"Eldrad must live."_

_"Run!"_

_"Nine hundred years of time and space, and I've never been slapped by someone's mother."_

_"Until we meet again, Sarah."_

_"Adric?"_

_"I won't forget you!"_

All the people he'd met, all the adventures he'd had. Tears were rolling down his face still, but he couldn't quite work out if it was from happiness or sorrow.

_"Who am I? WHO...AM...I?"_ A man with shaggy light brown hair shrieked to the sky. Then the men began to flash through again in quick succession.

_"The ground beneath our feet is spinning at 1,000 miles an hour and the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at 67,000 miles an hour, and I can feel it. We're falling through space, you and me, clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go... That's who I am."_

_"I'm a Time Lord...I'm not a human being; I walk in eternity..."_

_"Yeah? Well I'm the Lord of Time."_

_"I know who I am! I...AM...THE DOCTOR!"  
_  
Then another new man appeared, holding an umbrella and wearing a jumper filled with question marks.

_"Think about me when you're living your life one day after another, all in a neat pattern. Think about the homeless traveller in his old police box, his days like crazy paving."_

Then everything stopped, and a single voice echoed in his head.

_"John."_

John pushed himself up onto his elbows, finding the Doctor in his mind's-eye sitting cross-legged on the floor.

_"Caal'on'e'i'ot ce."_

"Who was that?" John asked, staring up at the starry ceiling in wonder.

_"You."_

"What?"

_"That is who you will be. It's who I've been. It's your life to come."  
_  
"Really?" John asked, open-mouthed.

_"Just the best bits,"_ the Doctor replied, grinning.

"Those monsters were scary," John said quietly.

_"Yeah, you'll meet a few. But you know what? It's worth it. The people you'll meet, people like Rose, like Jack. The places you'll go, the things you'll discover. The things you'll remember. The people you'll save. You will go through bad patches, but equally you'll have good ones too. You're going to have a brilliant life."_

"But I killed him," John muttered, tears welling in his eyes again. "I killed the Doctor."

_"You haven't, John. But you will kill him if you don't help them. You have to save them. They need you. You're the only one that has any chance of flying the TARDIS."_

"I can't fly the TARDIS," John whispered, staring at the floor.  
_  
"Yes, you can,"_ the Doctor replied gently. _"I'll help you. Besides, it's impossible for you to fail."_

John paused, looking up at the Doctor for a moment. "Why do you call yourself the Doctor?"

The Doctor gazed at him for a moment. _"Because people rely on me to find a cure. And I usually do. People rely on us, John. On you. This little world we love so much can't seem to go five minutes without some kind of attempted invasion and they don't have a clue what to do. This is why they need us. I know it's a big responsibility but I've learnt if I'm not the one to take that responsibility, no one else will. Now... What are you going to do?"_

John paused for a moment, thinking it through. Then he pushed himself onto two feet, shrugging back his shoulders. "My responsibility," he said.

The Doctor nodded._ "When you get to the console room, let me take control."_

John nodded, and began to run. He ran through the corridors of the TARDIS, never stopping, focussed only on getting to the console room. He burst in through the door, and instantly Jack, Jackie and Rose looked up in surprise.

He relaxed his body, closed his eyes, waiting for the Doctor to take him over. Jack and Jackie watched in fascination as he suddenly ran forward, pulling levers and turning knobs and flicking switches as he stared blankly ahead, seemingly not concentrating on what he was doing. The dematerialisation column began to pump up and down, the TARDIS moving in flight.

They landed with the trademark jolt. John ran over to the TARDIS doors, throwing them open to reveal the familiar alleyway of Eploxna. The Doctor pulled away from Jack and stumbled over to John. John took his hand, pulling him out of the TARDIS and guiding him through the streets of Eploxna with no hesitation of where he was going. John led him right to the familiar blue box parked where the Doctor had left it, letting go of his hand.

"Thank you," John said to the Doctor.

"Now I've gotta go through all this," the Doctor replied, doubled over, smiling through the pain evident in his expression.

"It's been educational," John replied, the words of the Doctor now coming through a lot easier now John wasn't fighting it. "Where did you leave the injections?"

"Infirmary," the Doctor replied, coughing slightly. "Rose doesn't need anything but you need one 5 millilitre injection every week for about 5 weeks. Everything's prepared."

John nodded. "Okay. You need to record the message that led Jack and Rose here."

The Doctor nodded. "I know. Good luck, then."

"You too," John replied before the Doctor took in a deep breath, trying to fake that he was perfectly fine before he stepped in through the TARDIS doorway to meet Jack and Rose.

"Wow, what took you so long?" Jack asked.

"Oh you know." The Doctor forced a grin. "Royal duties."

Jack and Rose both laughed as he made his way up to the console, feeling like he was wading through waist-high custard.

"So where to next, then?" Rose asked eagerly.

"You know, it's been a while since you saw your Mother," the Doctor said, flicking a switch. "Maybe it's time for a good old sit down and a cup of tea."

"Really?" Rose asked, raising her eyebrow. "Are you ill?" she asked, laughing.

"Never felt better," the Doctor breathed as a surge of pain shot through his back. With a jolt the TARDIS landed, and the view of the Powell Estate appeared on the monitor. "Okay, you two go up, I just need to calibrate the TARDIS, she's lagging a bit," he said, gesturing at the console. Jack and Rose nodded, disappearing out of the doors together. The Doctor checked the monitor, making sure they'd gone before he gasped in a breath, doubling over and leaning on the console, wincing with pain. He forced himself to flick a switch, taking a few deep breaths before he stumbled back to stand in space, forcing his head to look up.

"Listen, Jack, Rose, my teenage self is having a severe delayed side effect of being forcedly aged, but he's created the right flight disc – it'll work . But whatever you do, don't..." A shot of pain stabbed through his back again and he gasped in pain, trying to control his breathing before he spoke again, "don't insert the flight disk until my teenage self has been de-aged again. Then come to Eploxna to meet me when I'm little. Understand? Don't come to Eploxna unless I'm a kid. Sorry I can't tell you anymore, but I've gotta go. Good luck."

He flicked a switch, and then gazed at the double blue doors.

Well, here goes nothing.

He pushed himself up straight, taking a few more deep breaths before he began to walk towards the doors, to his future.

* * *

**A/N: **Next chapter's the last :D

_Chapter 25 - Flying From The Nest_

_"It's 8am!" John said excitedly, grinning from ear-to-ear. Rose was up in an instant, the both of them sneaking out the door together, hand in hand into the living room._

John stopped Rose, peeking over at Jack lying snoring on the sofa, arms and legs splayed under a duvet that was intended for a double bed. John turned to Rose, putting his finger on his lips and slipping into the kitchen. He returned moment later with a glass of water, still grinning widely as he tiptoed forward, clasping Rose's hand.

They arrived next to the sofa, Jack still snoring at a severe decibel level with no signs of stirring.

"Ready?" John whispered to Rose, who nodded happily. "3... 2... 1..."

"RAAAAAAAARGGGGH!" both children screamed as John threw the water over Jack's face.


	25. Flying From The Nest

**A/N: **This chapter is not the best it could be, I had quite a few things on my mind when I wrote this, plus anyone who knows me knows my last chapters either completely suck or are really good... there's no perfect medium :P This is an example of "completely suck" :P**  
**

* * *

Chapter 25 - Flying From The Nest

"Huh?"

Five-year-old John awoke to the feeling of George slobbering all over his face, purring contentedly. He sat up, petting the alien cat dog as he checked the clock - 8am. Perfect.

He set his teddy down on the pillows and clambered out of bed, and made his way to the door, sneaking out and across the corridor into Rose's room. He quietly pushed open the door and tiptoed inside, over to the bed where the child Rose was sleeping. He shook her gently and she blearily opened her eyes, dazed.

"It's 8am!" John said excitedly, grinning from ear-to-ear. Rose was up in an instant, the both of them sneaking out the door together, hand in hand into the living room.

John stopped Rose, peeking over at Jack lying snoring on the sofa, arms and legs splayed under a duvet that was intended for a double bed. John turned to Rose, putting his finger on his lips and slipping into the kitchen. He returned moment later with a glass of water, still grinning widely as he tiptoed forward, clasping Rose's hand.

They arrived next to the sofa, Jack still snoring at a severe decibel level with no signs of stirring.

"Ready?" John whispered to Rose, who nodded happily. "3... 2... 1..."

"RAAAAAAAARGGGGH!" both children screamed as John threw the water over Jack's face. Jack bolted upright, screaming in shock.

"AGH! AGH!" Jack yelled, throwing off the cover and jumping onto both feet. He was plainly panicking as he spun around in alarm, trying to find the source of the commotion...

Then he saw them.

"Why you little...!"

John and Rose bolted back across the living room whilst in the midst of laughter, running hand-in-hand into John's room where the door slammed shut, leaving a very stunned Jack standing in the middle of the living room.

* * *

**Week One**

"Ah! Ah!"

Eleven-year-old John awoke to the feeling of George slobbering all over his face, purring contentedly. He petted George for a moment, listening intently for the sound of anyone else awake in the flat.

Sure enough, Jackie was apparently awake, making a racket in the kitchen. John hoped she wasn't about to call him. Not yet. He wanted to lie in...

"John!" Jackie yelled moments later. "Breakfast is nearly ready!"

John quickly jumped out of bed, pulling on his clothes and almost running out the door so Jackie wouldn't get mad at him. He arrived in the kitchen to find Jack and Jackie already eating waffles. He grabbed a plate and some waffles, practically drowning them in maple syrup.

"That's not healthy for you, y'know love," Jackie said gently. "You'll get big spots on your face!"

John's spoon stopped halfway to his mouth, staring at her in disbelief. "Really?" he asked, his voice suddenly dropping an octave midway through the sentence.

Jack smirked. "Someone's reached puberty!" he said, laughing.

"What?" John quite literally squeaked.

"Oh, my little boy's growing up!" Jackie said in a 'that's so adorable!' voice as she clapped her hands together, moving to press a kiss to his forehead. "They grow up so fast!"

Jack couldn't quite work out whether she was joking or not.

* * *

**Week Two**

"Hey, hey, what...?"

Seventeen-year-old John awoke to the feeling of George slobbering all over his face, purring contentedly. He checked the clock next to the bed - 8am. With a sigh he pushed George off of his face and turned back over, pulling the covers over his head before quickly sinking back into the land of nod.

It wasn't long before Jackie started making her morning cutlery symphony in the kitchen, singing joyful tunes and clashing mugs and washing dishes. It didn't take long for John to wake up again, groaning as he realised she was the reason for it.

"John! John!" she suddenly shrieked for outside his door. "Get up!"

He blinked to try and clear his vision, looking down at the piles of clothes next to his bed. There he spotted something small and silver, and stretched out to reach it. He grasped it in one hand. He'd found it in Rose's bedroom and thought it looked pretty neat, and she said he could borrow it.

Sticking in the earphones he took the iPod off of hold, putting it on shuffle before putting the volume to maximum. He flopped back down exhaustedly onto the pillows, spread-eagled as the sounds of The Prodigy filled his ears and he fell back asleep.

* * *

**Week Three**

"Not now..."

25-year-old John awoke to the feeling of George slobbering all over his face, purring contentedly. Turning his head he sleepily looked at the bedside clock - 8am. Yawning widely he sat up, stroking George for a few moments before he finally got out of bed and got dressed, ready for the day. He found Jackie in the kitchen, evidently preparing a full English breakfast as various dinvine smells wafted up his nose.

"Morning," John said, waving.

"How did you sleep?" she asked, smiling in return.

"Like a log, thanks," John replied, pulling himself a mug down from the hooks.

"I'll finish that off, love," Jackie said, taking over for him. "Can you go wake Jack and Rose up?"

John stared at her. "After last time? He chased me and Rose with broom for twenty minutes."

"Well you were young," Jackie replied, still smiling as she ruffled his hair. He gave her an indignant look, patting down his hair before turning and making his way to Rose's bedroom.

He gently rapped on the door, waiting for a response. He got none. He tried again. Nothing.

"Rose?"

Utter silence.

"Rose, I'm coming in, okay?" he said, and opened the door. Restored back to her nineteen-year-old self Rose was practically drowned in her own cover, her blonde hair splayed out on the pillow as she quietly slept. He moved forward, perching on the bed and shaking her shoulder gently.

"Rose, wake up," he called gently, and slowly but surely she opened her eyes, gazing up at him.

"Mornin' already?" she asked, yawning.

He nodded. "Breakfast is nearly done. I've got to wake up Jack."

Rose snorted with laughter. "Good luck with that."

* * *

Pretty soon all four were gathered around the television eating breakfast, drinking tea and watching the early morning news. The headline today was the announcement of the cure for people affected by the 'volcanic gases' - Rose noticed that UNIT were efficient. Within three weeks they had diluted all the egesta and had it shipped out to every Medical establishment across the world for a free cure to the effect of the "gases". The best thing was, no one could be aged to more than they were before. Rose was back to her normal age, the world was safe, and the Saeculornex were free to feed as they pleased on another planet. It truly seemed like everything was wrapped up.

Well, except one thing, Rose couldn't help but think as she glanced at the youthful Doctor currently being smothered in a hug by Jackie.

But it wouldn't take long to get the Doctor back.

* * *

**Week Four**

"Jack! I told you no! Get off!"

The Doctor awoke to the feeling of something slobbering all over his face, purring contentedly. He blinked in surprise before realising it was actually George, and eventually he managed to recall why exactly why he was lying semi-naked in the spare room of Jackie's flat.

He jumped out of bed practically throwing George three foot into the air, quickly aiming an apology in George's direction before stumbling over to the mirror across the room.

He ran his hands down his face... There he was, sideburns and all. He was him again!

He found his pinstripes and coat lying on the chair and very quickly got dressed, running into the kitchen where Jackie was already up.

"Jackie! I'm me again!" he yelled in delight, bounding forward to hug her tightly. She hugged him back, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

"My little John!" she said happily. "I'll make you your favourite breakfast!"

"Thanks, Jackie!" the Doctor replied, drawing back from the hug. "Are Rose and Jack still asleep?" She nodded. "I'll wake them up."

* * *

It was hugs all round as the Doctor revealed to them all he had reached his proper age. They all ate breakfast together, deciding that today would be their last day in the flat before they set sail for brand new worlds. Jackie was miffed, but she couldn't argue - after all, they all have to fly from the nest eventually, right?

They spent the day together cleaning up the house and checking they had everything as Jack and Jackie told Rose and the Doctor stories of their temporary youth, much to their embarrassment and delight. Soon it was time to leave. Jackie was practically in tears as she said good bye to Jack, Rose and the Doctor. Once she had hugged and kissed Rose to death she moved onto the Doctor, hands on hips.

"Have you got everythin'?" she demanded to know.

"Yeah," the Doctor replied, checking his pockets. "Should have."

"Oh this is breakin' my heart!" Jackie exclaimed, brushing him down to get rid of the creases. "You will be careful, right?"

"I'm always careful!" the Doctor answered, laughing as Jackie licked her finger and rubbed off a mark on his face.

"Make sure you come back and visit me!" she said, kissing his forehead and hugging him tightly not letting go for a while as the Doctor accepted her embrace. It was a few minutes before they parted and the three time-travellers and the newest companion, George the cat-dog, made their way into the TARDIS, Jackie waving and crying and blowing her nose into a hanky as she held the teddy John had become very attached to over his stay.

The TARDIS faded out of existence. For a couple of seconds Jackie stood there, staring at the spot it had been before turning to leave.

Suddenly the sound of the TARDIS materialising rang in her ears and she turned in surprise just in time to find the Doctor coming back out of the TARDIS, looking a little lost. His eyes fixed on the teddy in her arms and he shuffled forward, extending his hand.

"Can I... umm..." he paused, trying to find the right words so that he could retain every ounce of his manhood and dignity. "... Have my teddy, please?"

She held the bear out to him, and he took the teddy and hugged it possessively.

"Thanks," he replied and disappeared back into the TARDIS, not quite ready to be a grownup yet.

**The End**

**

* * *

A/N: **No sequel foreseeable :o

New stuff... I've got a few things in mind, but having no computer really hinders me so it might be a while until I can start flooding your Inbox again :D

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! :D

Lar


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